Rivian confirms POWERED tailgate has now been KILLED

[MReda]

It looks like only 2 buttons which I presume to be the two buttons required to open and close the powered tonneau.

Oh that's true, forgot about the powered tonneau.

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[cohall]

It looks like only 2 buttons which I presume to be the two buttons required to open and close the powered tonneau.

If you rewatch the holiday lights video, it would certainly appear that it's a button on the rail that releases the tailgate. Though, as this thread has made clear, things could have certainly changed since this was filmed.

FF to about the 40 second mark:

 

[jimcgov3]

If you rewatch the holiday lights video, it would certainly appear that it's a button on the rail that releases the tailgate. Though, as this thread has made clear, things could have certainly changed since this was filmed.

FF to about the 40 second mark:

100%! Because if one of us had gathered screenshots of the original pictures of the new website from around the middle of November leading up to the 16th and the Configurator coming online, there was a photo of just 3 buttons. Fold, Tonneau Open, and Tonneau Close. Prior to that I have pictures of 4 buttons on the bedrail. (180°, 90°, Tonneau Open, Tonneau Close). Now if you look at the latest pics of the bedrail from the website, you can make out ONLY 2 buttons.

 

[Gshenderson]

Oh that's true, forgot about the powered tonneau.

That’ll be the next thing to go missing!

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

That’ll be the next thing to go missing!

at that point I’d rather they ditched the tonneau, entirely. Manual tonneau covers suck, and I’d rather the “hide-a-way” space be added to make the bed larger.

 

[electruck]

at that point I’d rather they ditched the tonneau, entirely. Manual tonneau covers suck, and I’d rather the “hide-a-way” space be added to make the bed larger.

the tonneau is there for its significant aero benefit.

 

[timf]

at that point I’d rather they ditched the tonneau, entirely. Manual tonneau covers suck, and I’d rather the “hide-a-way” space be added to make the bed larger.

Keep in mind that the Explore package includes a manual cover. Only the Adventure package (and Launch Edition) includes the powered cover. Since they're using it as an upsell feature, I would hope the chances of it being removed are low.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

the tonneau is there for its significant aero benefit.

Maybe a SMALL benefit... but not significant. Mythbusters did an episode on fuel economy specifically in the context of pickup trucks. They busted a lot of myths that day. Turns out the bed of a pickup isn't as detrimental to fuel economy as people previously assumed. Once you're up to speed, the bed ends up as a positive pressure zone, and air actually flows right over the bed.

In the mid 2000's, Chevy started adding small spoilers built into the plastic trim on the top of the tailgate to accentuate the effect. It was effective.

 

[DuckTruck]

I received a similar response, but my feedback will be sent up the line, so they said.

BUT, I mean, they're 3 months away from production. Is there really nothing finalized that they can share with us? Do they really not know what the warranty is going to look like? Or locked in the details and manufacturer of the stereo? etc.

How great would it be to get an email that tells us all about how phenomenal the stereo is, and the details of it, and why Meridian is such perfect partner etc. Why do we have to dig around and sleuth out these details when they could have sent an email that gets all pre-order folks excited again, and not just those of us actively looking for new info? If you're not on forums or social media, you would have no idea about all of the things that have changed or been added or whatever.

Anywho...

To cohall and others here, I took your suggestion to heart and just had a half hour conversation about a litany of topics with Amanda. I've always had great conversations with the CS team. While they do have talking points and are never likely to divulge anything earthshattering, I feel confident that they share with management our thoughts, concerns, and opinions. I suggested that they monitor this and the other forums and provide a scheduled release of news, any news, on a weekly basis. I said that the lack of regular output leaves us speculating about issues that may be known to them.

I won't bore you with the minutiae of details discussed, because most folks here seem to have the same answers already. It helped a little to at least find that there are no final answers yet that they're ready to share to address the many concerns raised in our forum.

At the very least, a short weekly missive that updates us (as others have noted) about ongoing production issues, testing/certifications, feature developments, RAN plans, etc, along with links to videos and outside EV news, would be a nice addition. Even if it was light on any actual Rivian news, it would fill the void of no regular communication. I suggested a report every Monday to give some sense of transparency around their progress and the steps to come..

I know I'll be in touch with them more as we move forward. I'm looking forward to hearing what others learn from them.

As a side note, Amanda noted that today is the second anniversary of when I plunked down my deposit. Here's to hopes of better communication as our shared Adventure nears the Launch!

 

[skyote]

FF to about the 40 second mark

I don't have any of the old pics, but maybe a quick press of one of the two buttons releases the tailgate? Does this look like the right location?

I believe this green R1T is one of the production spec units off the line.

 

[jimcgov3]

I don't have any of the old pics, but maybe a quick press of one of the two buttons releases the tailgate? Does this look like the right location?

I believe this green R1T is one of the production spec units off the line.

But in the video, that one definitely looks like it is powered.

 

[skyote]

But in the video, that one definitely looks like it is powered.

The "dampened" tailgates will lower slowly like that too.

 

[jimcgov3]

The "dampened" tailgates will lower slowly like that too.

Possibly

 

[skyote]

Possibly

Wouldn't it be cool if Rivian just shared finalized design details? Has anyone ever brought this up?

 

[Lucanjo]

The "dampened" tailgates will lower slowly like that too.

I don't see how this is not electronically released. There is no tailgate release lever in the back and assuming there is a latch on either side, there is just no mechanical way to achieve this. If it is electronically released I hope the CS is wrong and that it can be opened remotely and slowly open, "dampened". I guess we'll find out for sure in a couple of months.