Your input is needed for prototype product for Gear Tunnel (conveyor system w/ removable bins)

Transfer Flow is seeking feedback on a prototype product designed for the Rivian R1T Adventure vehicle. The patent-pending product is a conveyor system with removable bins designed to fit inside the R1T’s gear tunnel. The goal of this product is to simplify the storage and accessibility of items within the gear tunnel. The conveyor's movement in both forward and reverse directions allows access to the bins from either the passenger or driver side of the vehicle, with an adjustable speed power switch conveniently located on either side of the gear tunnel. This product is estimated to be priced at around $1500. If you're a Rivian owner with a gear tunnel, we'd love to know if this conveyor system aligns with your needs and interests. Any input or comments would be greatly appreciated.

As cool as this is, I find i can muscle 4 cases of wine in the tunnel (we call ours the "Chunnel"}. I'm afraid of the loss is space from this.

Interesting idea but seems like the bins is more of a ‘work truck’ feature. For others the bins would seem too restrictive, plus the conveyor belt overkill from manually pulling out and a drain on battery resources. Personally, I’d be surprised if you sell enough of these unless Rivian increases their trucks on the road 10X.

I think the electronics take up too much space in an already small area. I don't think a conveyor belt-type system is very practical. There are already a bunch of sliders on the market that are much easier and cheaper and accomplish the same thing. The only way I would see a conveyor belt more useful than a slide out is if you park in a tight space that doesn't allow you to pull out a slider.

The other problem with a conveyor system over a slider is that if you only want the center container, you have to pull out the container that's in the way and if you can't open the gear tunnel on the other side and want the 3rd container, you'll have to pull out 2 of them to get to that 3rd one. I would never want to pull out a full container to get to the one I actually want. What if I have something heavy in the one I have to pull out and then put back in? I would much rather use a sliding platform over a conveyor belt.

I have an R1T and don't have anything in my gear tunnel yet. I've been researching what's available, so I've been looking at a lot of the different options. Some are good, some are bad, and some I wish I could combine to make exactly what I want. Right now, I think most of the sliders on the market are a little too expensive for what they are and I definitely wouldn't pay $1500 for something that doesn't add $1500 of value to my use of the gear tunnel.

I don't want to sound mean about it, but I really don't think this idea is going to fly with enough people to make it financially worth producing.

I pull on the rubber mat to move my stuff toward one end

there seems to be a lot of lost space with this setup. im sure there's some use case for this where someone would want a powered tray but i think for most of us its nice to be able to just throw stuff in the tunnel or to have larger bins that we can take out and use the full tunnel (or most of it). seems like if you take the bins out (if that possible) do you lose a good amount of space with that tray.

For me and my uses, it looks like the system would take too much space in the gear tunnel. Right now on one side I use a trunk organizer from amazon, probably around $50. Keeps stuff from rolling around. It also keeps my lunch bag on one side of the truck so I know where it will be when I open a gear tunnel door. I do admit I have to get a broom sometimes if my grocery bags fall over in the gear tunnel, but I am not sure grocery bags would fit with this system. Another truck organizer on the other side would probably be better for me, cheaper, easier, collapsable, adjustable and allow more storage.

Transfer Flow said:

Transfer Flow is seeking feedback on a prototype product designed for the Rivian R1T Adventure vehicle. The patent-pending product is a conveyor system with removable bins designed to fit inside the R1T’s gear tunnel. The goal of this product is to simplify the storage and accessibility of items within the gear tunnel. The conveyor's movement in both forward and reverse directions allows access to the bins from either the passenger or driver side of the vehicle, with an adjustable speed power switch conveniently located on either side of the gear tunnel. This product is estimated to be priced at around $1500. If you're a Rivian owner with a gear tunnel, we'd love to know if this conveyor system aligns with your needs and interests. Any input or comments would be greatly appreciated.

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I can see one situation where your product *might* be superior to the manual roll-out sliders: fighting gravity. R1Ts can be used in a variety of extreme angles, even those where "leveling" the vehicle is impossible. In certain circumstances, an R1T might be parked at an extreme angle where the truck is tilted left/right or right/left and the operator needs access to the gear tunnel. Depending on how heavy the items are on that tunnel slider, the operator may get an unpleasant surprise on opening the gear tunnel door if the slider is unsecured. Your design could alleviate that by controlling the rate of release of the slider. But where it *might not* be superior is if the motors are insufficient to then retract the slider when the operator is finished. If the motors aren't strong enough, the operator could burn them out trying to return the slider to the original position. This, of course, would only be an issue with heavy loads in the bins in the gear tunnel slider. But then, maybe that's where yours is better!

Good luck with your project. I could see emergency personnel using R1Ts needing to have access to the gear tunnel bins with heavy items that would otherwise be inconvenient to store under the tonneau cover or items which shouldn't be exposed to extreme weather.

Mike Hunt said:

I pull on the rubber mat to move my stuff toward one end

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I just send my 9 year old in if something's nestled centrally (just out of reach). As long as he still fits, I'm golden

I appreciate the effort and desire to bring new Rivian accessories to market.

This would be a pass for me due to the space it takes up, the price, and the fact I keep my clubs in the tunnel so I have no need for the bins.

I do like the idea of a smaller, unpowered version of the “treadmill” design that would make it easier to slide things in and out of the gear tunnel.

I haven't found anything that works better than these Plano storage bins. A slide would be great but very manageable as is.

R1Thor said:

I just send my 9 year old in if something's nestled centrally (just out of reach). As long as he still fits, I'm golden

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Have you told the wife about your backup plan when he gets larger? And shouldn't you be making that one now to be sure their size and abilities overlap?

Like others, this would not do anything for me. I have one long item in there at all times (traction boards in their storage bag) and then a few other things in bags. Tool bag, etc. I don't see any need for bins and they would be counter to my large storage. I use the tunnel as impromptu storage for backpags and duffels while traveling, to keep them out of site/theft access. I can't imagine a world where I need a motorized thing to move stuff in and out.

Ditto, while interesting, this system is impractical for the benefits to be derived from it. It simply takes up too much space.

Transfer Flow said:

Transfer Flow is seeking feedback on a prototype product designed for the Rivian R1T Adventure vehicle. The patent-pending product is a conveyor system with removable bins designed to fit inside the R1T’s gear tunnel. The goal of this product is to simplify the storage and accessibility of items within the gear tunnel. The conveyor's movement in both forward and reverse directions allows access to the bins from either the passenger or driver side of the vehicle, with an adjustable speed power switch conveniently located on either side of the gear tunnel. This product is estimated to be priced at around $1500. If you're a Rivian owner with a gear tunnel, we'd love to know if this conveyor system aligns with your needs and interests. Any input or comments would be greatly appreciated.

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I would like to see the middle dividers fold flat so that I can still get my golf clubs in there.