⛔️ Powered Tonneau cover removed from R1T production until further notice on all future deliveries

[waitinginvain]

TLDR, rivian chat agent says no powered cover is planned.. maybe they’ll just offer powered owners a refund and remove it? It does seem like a big distraction for them, would be wise to abandon it (a little late)

Sponsored

 

[Sacagawea]

Bad news always comes on a Friday afternoon...

Unless it's Tuesday and they tell you your price is going up by 20% because they have supply chain issues. OR it's Thursday and they tell you there will no longer be a Camp Kitchen on your order because they are redesigning it. BTW it's also Thursday and they tell you the Gear Tunnel Shuttle is also being redesigned and taken off your pre-order. Oh, AND you will not be getting the 3 Person Tent because there is a redesign on the frame needing brake lights that won't be in until 2023 (?).

Believe I now have a deposit on R1T Compass Yellow/OC/21" tires.

 

[crashmtb]

What I’m confused about is this then: if it’s not a redesign, why can’t I get my R1T, that should be made in the next month or so, without the powered cover now, but have the next gen powered cover put in after it comes out?
My R1T will be just like the 12,000 before it, but without the powered cover. Now if Rivian is retro fitting the new cover for the earlier deliveries, why can’t it fit the ones made in the next few months?
I’ve been told by CS twice that it can’t be added now, and it can’t be added later. And that seems off.
I do want the earlier people to get their covers fixed, if they have issues.
And I think it’s great that Rivian is planning to improve it in the near future.
But it’s strange that there will be a select group of 20 to 40k Rivians (rough estimate. Fix could take longer) that won’t be able to get this feature when the truck hasn’t changed from the ones before it.
No hard feelings toward Rivian, making cars and trucks is tough. But this donut hole of time without a route to a powered cover seems weird

Wiring harnesses these days are option specific and built down to the millimetre.. If you order one without the powered tonneau, it will not have any of the wiring needed. There may also be specific mounting points and the like that are added at the body in white manufacturing stage. Not to mention all of the trim pieces that are different.

it’s generally a monstrous pain and not cost effective in the slightest for anyone to retrofit factory options like this.

 

[Prime]

I have a feeling in a few years if the automatic version gets fixed it will have a notable resale bump over the manual cover (definitely more than the $700 price difference between the two versions currently). This is a corky truck and the corky features are one of its selling points. Remove the features and it becomes less valuable.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

TLDR, rivian chat agent says no powered cover is planned.. maybe they’ll just offer powered owners a refund and remove it? It does seem like a big distraction for them, would be wise to abandon it (a little late)

They can’t just offer a refund of the cover to the people who already have a powered tonneau. They would have to offer to buy the entire truck back. You cannot sell a car with a feature, that feature doesn’t work, then remove said feature and toss the owner a couple bucks.

That’s fraud. Think of it using something besides the tonneau. What about if the CV joints continue to cause problems so Rivian just takes the off road modes off the truck? You’d argue that this was a different vehicle than the one you’ve been sold right?

No real practical difference here, therefore Rivian would have to offer a refund of the cover OR an entire vehicle buyback. Plus if someone had accessorized their truck it would be possible they’d have to refund those costs too.They couldn’t sell those trucks as new anymore either.

It’s much cheaper to fix the existing. If Rivian plans to not do a powered tonneau going forward the much more likely solution they are going to use is just limp the existing ones along with a half assed redesign and fix them as they brake until the end of the warranty period. Then their fixes will cost a zillion dollars and people will just disable their covers or look to the aftermarket for a solution.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I have a feeling in a few years if the automatic version gets fixed it will have a notable resale bump over the manual cover (definitely more than the $700 price difference between the two versions currently). This is a corky truck and the corky features are one of its selling points. Remove the features and it becomes less valuable.

I already have an idea for how to fix the torque wind-up problem without needing another motor. Another set of gears with the same shaft that interlocks with the current ones. Since it spins in the other direction, it will automatically reduce the amount of desynchronization that happens. It's still going to require different endplates. They look to be cast, and rather significant size to be machined out from a single piece, but if it comes down to "we're just going to disable it" then it would be worth trying a few things to fix it myself if mine eventually breaks.

 

[Yossarian]

Guys! Guys, calm down and look at the bright side, we are still supposed to get u dated delivery dates at the end of the month.

“It’s important to note this choice will not impact your delivery timing estimate coming later this month.”

Oh no...the next session will be related to the "updated" delivery windows next week. Or, if they miss their self imposed date yet again....the lack of windows will be the topic. One of the 2. ?

I think the odds that Rivian will meet their October EOM goal for the delivery window update feature are low. At this juncture, Rivian's most important goal is to meet their estimate of 25,000 vehicles produced in 2022. The issues with the improperly torqued bolt, the CV joint and the tonneau cover are unwelcome distractions that could potentially impact the production goal. Rivian is juggling a lot, and I think needs more time to figure their path forward. Let's also note that Rivian's track record on rolling out the delivery window update feature is not auspicious. If you'll recall, it was supposed to happen in "early 2022."

That was the it for me, I was debating in my head R1T and R1S, 80% of the pros for R1T are gone now then I just switched back to the SUV.

The only thing that I really wanted was the max pack, but I can live with the large one.

And again, maybe I will be just waiting for nothing until we receive a letter saying the Max pack was removed from specs while they .... Something ...it.

Pretty much the same for me; I'm waiting for the delivery window update to decide whether to wait for the R1T Max (with manual tonneau) or change to the R1S. I will be towing and spend quite a bit of time in some very cold places, so really want the Max. OTOH, the R1S is much better fit for hauling our gear and our dogs, and since we also spend some time in an urban environment, the smaller size is welcome. It's not really clear that we can live wit the LR battery, but there's only one way to determine that for sure.

If, as I expect, the R1T Max is delayed until 2024, I will change to the R1S LR. Of course, that change sends me to the back of the line for the SUV, so it's unlikely that it will be in my driveway before then either. . .

 

[zipzag]

I think the odds that Rivian will meet their October EOM goal for the delivery window update feature are low. At this juncture, Rivian's most important goal is to meet their estimate of 25,000 vehicles produced in 2022. The issues with the improperly torqued bolt, the CV joint and the tonneau cover are unwelcome distractions that could potentially impact the production goal. Rivian is juggling a lot, and I think needs more time to figure their path forward. Let's also note that Rivian's track record on rolling out the delivery window update feature is not auspicious. If you'll recall, it was supposed to happen in "early 2022."


Pretty much the same for me; I'm waiting for the delivery window update to decide whether to wait for the R1T Max (with manual tonneau) or change to the R1S. I will be towing and spend quite a bit of time in some very cold places, so really want the Max. OTOH, the R1S is much better fit for hauling our gear and our dogs, and since we also spend some time in an urban environment, the smaller size is welcome. It's not really clear that we can live wit the LR battery, but there's only one way to determine that for sure.

If, as I expect, the R1T Max is delayed until 2024, I will change to the R1S LR. Of course, that change sends me to the back of the line for the SUV, so it's unlikely that it will be in my driveway before then either. . .

Would a cap on the R1T work for you?

I'm curious about the possibility of a second row removal on the R1T for some trips. We often don't need two rows, much less three. Since I'm past the kid hauling stage I find three rows vehicles means hauling around a lot of unneeded seats.

 

[mabowden]

I reserved the Adventure version that included the power tonneau. I will take the manual one instead, but will they reduce the price by the $750 difference? no indication so far.

When they removed the tonneau cover on march 1st they added it on as an "extra" but reduced the base price accordingly. So yes the price was reduced.

 

[mabowden]

Would a cap on the R1T work for you?

I'm curious about the possibility of a second row removal on the R1T for some trips. We often don't need two rows, much less three. Since I'm past the kid hauling stage I find three rows vehicles means hauling around a lot of unneeded seats.

This. I've said it before and I'll say it again.

For anyone that asks R1T or R1S. All being considered:
Truck: Generally has higher resale than SUV (not a lot). More cargo space- so if you run out of cargo space more than you run out of available seats, go truck.
SUV: Lots of seats, covered cargo space. If you run out of seats more than you run out of cargo space, go SUV. Also for some reason if you need the cargo space covered (rare).

 

[mabowden]

What I’m confused about is this then: if it’s not a redesign, why can’t I get my R1T, that should be made in the next month or so, without the powered cover now, but have the next gen powered cover put in after it comes out?
My R1T will be just like the 12,000 before it, but without the powered cover. Now if Rivian is retro fitting the new cover for the earlier deliveries, why can’t it fit the ones made in the next few months?
I’ve been told by CS twice that it can’t be added now, and it can’t be added later. And that seems off.
I do want the earlier people to get their covers fixed, if they have issues.
And I think it’s great that Rivian is planning to improve it in the near future.
But it’s strange that there will be a select group of 20 to 40k Rivians (rough estimate. Fix could take longer) that won’t be able to get this feature when the truck hasn’t changed from the ones before it.
No hard feelings toward Rivian, making cars and trucks is tough. But this donut hole of time without a route to a powered cover seems weird

Agreed. Metaphor (morgan) is putting a lot of faith in many unknowns at this point. There must be something Rivian has learned if they are not allowing owners to take delivery of powered tonneau capable vehicles, simply without the powered tonneau. If they had the intention of making a redesigned working product, this is what they would offer. Doesn't bother me one bit as I always wanted the manual version. I just don't see myself going from close->open all the time and when I do I'll know before I leave the house 95% of the time.

 

[CascadianApe]

This has been a known problem since before launch. This to me says more about management issues inside the company than anything else. The Tonneaus were also a bottleneck for production since they were not coming in fast enough. No one wanted to make a hard decision a year ago.

Zero surprise that this happened...

Get ready for more "features" to start dropping off....

 

[dixosw]

The tonneau situation doesn't bode well for existing truck owners either. I think we all assumed that a newer version was coming soon that would be retrofitted to existing trucks. Apparently there isn't a new version in the short/medium term. I suspect existing trucks with broken powered tonneaus will be offered the same manual one as a longer term fix. Perhaps the difference in price between manual and powered will be refunded to those you already paid for the powered one.

 

[Metaphor]

Agreed. Metaphor (morgan) is putting a lot of faith in many unknowns at this point.

Agreed!

Basically I believe that Rivian knows that by angering their customers they will not exist. They did right by honoring prices of early orders and I feel like they have acknowledged that they have an issue that needs to be fixed. It seems reasonable to me that they are hitting the pause button while they get a fix and new cover cost in place.

A purchase in Rivian is a purchase of faith at this point as there is very little data or track record to work with. and even then, past performance is not always the best indicator of the future. I guess i choose optimism at this point as so far Rivian has done right by me thus far with proactive communications, honoring original pricing, and admitting when they have issues. From my book, its enough to maintain faith in trying times.

 

[bd5400]

The tonneau situation doesn't bode well for existing truck owners either. I think we all assumed that a newer version was coming soon that would be retrofitted to existing trucks. Apparently there isn't a new version in the short/medium term. I suspect existing trucks with broken powered tonneaus will be offered the same manual one as a longer term fix. Perhaps the difference in price between manual and powered will be refunded to those you already paid for the powered one.

There’s a lot of “predicting” that’s starting to get out of hand. There was no “assuming” and there is absolutely no basis for claiming that Rivian has abandoned the powered tonneau permanently. They have told current owners they are working on a fix. When they paused production they did it because they are working on a redesign.

All of this conjecture about Rivian not offering retrofits to those who take delivery without a powered tonneau is not a secret message that Rivian isn’t making a powered tonneau anymore.

Sponsored