R2 non-powered frunk is a mistake?

[ndmiller]

Our family had a chance to interact with the R2 at the Denver block party. Absolutely loved the vehicle, however it was a very hot day and trying to close the manual-only frunk was tough without getting burned on the hot paint. It was a stretch for my wife to reach and kids couldn't do it all. We use the frunk every single day in our R1 and find the powered feature really helpful. I would certainly have paid a bit more to have that feature in the R2.

Exactly how much more would you pay? I ask because the reason it was deleted is most likely the cost. So it wasn't just a bit more, <$1K, pushing the starting price up into another mental bucket. Same with the pop out side windows. Making a $55K car $60 doesn't seem too bad but a $45K car $50K is over 10%.

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[KBabione]

Exactly how much more would you pay?

Interesting question...I'll be paying the upcharge for 20" wheels and the ocean cloud interior, but I don't know if I'd pay $800 for a frunk that has a power-close option. What scares me is that I have the ability to open it with my phone from anywhere but can't say "oops" and close it again remotely.

 

[VSG]

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"The Reacher" - Tesla's solution for those people who received a LHD vehicle in a RHD country.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/tesla-the-reacher-left-hand-drive-uk-owners/

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

It would be nice if it had a strap attached to the underside to help pull it down.

Early videos show a strap. Wonder if the attachment points still exist?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

"The Reacher" - Tesla's solution for those people who received a LHD vehicle in a RHD country.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/tesla-the-reacher-left-hand-drive-uk-owners/

Exactly what I thought of.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Early videos show a strap. Wonder if the attachment points still exist?

Even w/o attachment point, it’d be an easy DIY. Drill a hole in the plastic panel, attach strap with low profile hardware and make sure there is non-marring padding/buffer between underside of hood and hardware. In use, you just have to remember not to yank on the strap so much that you are pulling the panel off of the hood and damaging its mounting clips.

 

[djsider2]

For the people that use the frunk quite a bit, its a big miss. We keep our sports equipment up there. Wagon, balls, turf shoes every weekend. I think those that dont use the frunk ever might have too much car for their use case... at least for the r1s.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

For the people that use the frunk quite a bit, its a big miss. We keep our sports equipment up there. Wagon, balls, turf shoes every weekend. I think those that dont use the frunk ever might have too much car for their use case... at least for the r1s.

Already mentioned, R2 is smaller/shorter in height than R1. Regardless of how often one uses the frunk, someone of average height shouldn’t have any problem reaching up to bring the hood down. The perceived problem is either based on making false equivalency of the two, or based on one being below average height and shopping a car that is not the right fit, or simply jumping to conclusions without first-hand interaction. R2 has similar dimensions as current generation CR-V and X3.

If y’all want to try to talk yourselves out of buying a R2, time is better spent on potentially higher than usual insurance premiums and higher DMV registration/renewal fees… plus any other proposals that seek to make EV owners pay their “fair” share of taxes. And higher repair costs due to comparatively small production volume, which results in higher per unit costs on replacement parts and limited availability of said parts.

 

[SANZC02]

For the people that use the frunk quite a bit, its a big miss. We keep our sports equipment up there. Wagon, balls, turf shoes every weekend. I think those that dont use the frunk ever might have too much car for their use case... at least for the r1s.

It is really not that big a deal, it has soft-close so you just need to pull it down. Not like the two handed process required with my Model S to securely close without putting dents in the hood.

 

[goldburger]

I'm guessing you're a rare outlier who uses the frunk that often. That's a bummer for you, but I doubt 90% of owners will be in their frunk more than weekly. Rivian had to make a lot of decisions to lower the cost and complexity of the R2 so they could meet volume and price targets, and the motorized trunk and charge port were easy deletes IMO.

One of the craziest things I’ve read on this forum. The frunk is the most used storage space I use and similarly for other R1 owners I know.

 

[tbinmd]

on my R1T we use the funk all the time. If it wasn't powered, I doubt we would use it as much. We rarely use the frunk on my wife's car, it's not powered, but the rear hatch is, so everything goes in the back. Her car even has the kick to open, which is really useful when your hands are full.

 

[maba2366]

Most people rarely use the frunk so a motorized frunk is not worth the expense in a vehicle that sells at middle of the market prices. Vehicles in a similar price class ie. MY, BMW iX3, Mach E etc do not have motorized frunks either.

 

[ealberton]

I believe

I'm guessing you're a rare outlier who uses the frunk that often. That's a bummer for you, but I doubt 90% of owners will be in their frunk more than weekly. Rivian had to make a lot of decisions to lower the cost and complexity of the R2 so they could meet volume and price targets, and the motorized trunk and charge port were easy deletes IMO.

I think you are wrong about how many people use the frunk daily. I also use my frunk EVERYDAY as my truck. I have a bike rack on the back, and to put it down and up every time I want to put something in my truck is sooooo annoying. So I use the frunk as my trunk most of the time, and it's just easier access. I also feel like this was a miss on thier part.

 

[djsider2]

It is really not that big a deal, it has soft-close so you just need to pull it down. Not like the two handed process required with my Model S to securely close without putting dents in the hood.

If they had it, it would be a bigger differentiator to the Tesla MY.

 

[maba2366]

If they had it, it would be a bigger differentiator to the Tesla MY.

The money would be better spent on power folding and raising rear seats

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