Center Console/Camp Speaker

[marbro67]

Would the ideal item be essentially a drawer that pulls out to allow folks to store items in there? A hollowed out speaker was mentioned?

I've been debating on making a drawer. Maybe with elastic cargo net walls or something, that would fit in there.

I can only speak for myself. What I'm looking for is something that locks. Something that I can place sensitive items in and have some comfort that they would not be stolen. A cargo net would not do that.

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[Byrd]

Definitely interested in a magnetic locking drawer in-place of the camp speaker. Has anyone noticed the pic of the center console in the R1T owners manual? Look...

 

[NoGoingBack]

Yeah I’m guessing future lower trim levels may come with out the speaker and a storage area instead. While a tray or sliding drawer would be nice I would prefer the locking option idea that’s being bounced around here. Something in the exact form factor as the speaker that can take its place and lock in place. The speaker is locked in place when ever the car is locked.

 

[RWerksman]

Yeah I’m guessing future lower trim levels may come with out the speaker and a storage area instead. While a tray or sliding drawer would be nice I would prefer the locking option idea that’s being bounced around here. Something in the exact form factor as the speaker that can take its place and lock in place. The speaker is locked in place when ever the car is locked.

That one of the contributing factors to why I (and likely others) haven't done anything in this space yet - We're uncertain what Rivian is planning. It could be a drawer. It could be a cover. It could be just a larger opening that makes the big area in front of the console just that much bigger.

The space itself it rather large, and frankly, without much going on inside of it. It's basically a horizontal hole with a latch and a pogo-pin 12V power connector at the very back. There are no guides or notches around the exterior of the hole. It is rounded at the side, rear, and front which makes using something off the shelf basically a no-go.

The latch at the back which is also seemingly the only way to keep something in the hole, also happens to be powered, so it will likely require a metal latch so it doesn't break when triggering close. I'm also not 100% sure if there is some connectivity using the pogo pins to signal if something is in there for the latch to be closable. If thats the case, it will be problematic. We will basically have to reverse engineer the pins to emulate the response from the speaker to get it to operate or do something kludgy like use magnets at the rear of the hole.

Size will also be somewhat difficult. This is juuuust big enough to make 3D printing more complex. It will likely need to be broken into different bits, and should likely be a combination of that + something like mesh or laser cut metal or plastic for the bottom and two sides. Injection molding isn't really an option due to the potentially very low volume of the item. Keep in mind that I would want to design an produce this in the US with real wages for the folks who are making it. Other vendors may have a different model, so YMMV there.

I don't think I would want to make a safe or similar. I think that additionally cuts down on the market, increases pricing, and likely others would do it better. It's more of a specialty item, even in a much higher volume vehicle like a wrangler.

The last bit is cost. Generally, I try to keep item cost down. This would likely balloon a bit in price - maybe to $100 or $150. Is that really viable for essentially a drawer? I'd really like to hear from folks that are interested. For me, personally, that feels like too much...

 

[harkco]

I want something like this that area. That being said, has anyone tried installing a stopbox in that crevice between the seat and arm rest? May prevent random stuff from dropping into that area as well....https://stopboxusa.com/products/strike

 

[MountainBikeDude]

The OG demo models had a pull out drawer with a grab handle similar to the ones above the doors. I have a few photos of it doing a peak a boo in the background, but nothing of it pulled out.

@RWerksman I agree that you'd ideally want the Rivian OEM latch receptacle to secure it from flying out during a braking event and the added functionality of being lockable storage. But that becomes expensive.

 

[sub]

Since there is power in there, I think this would be an awesome place to put a tiny peltier powered cooler.

A drawer that keeps 2+ cans of soda chilled would be so cool. Bonus points if there is a switch to reverse the polarity and also be able to keep coffee warm.

 

[RWerksman]

The OG demo models had a pull out drawer with a grab handle similar to the ones above the doors. I have a few photos of it doing a peak a boo in the background, but nothing of it pulled out.

@RWerksman I agree that you'd ideally want the Rivian OEM latch receptacle to secure it from flying out during a braking event and the added functionality of being lockable storage. But that becomes expensive.

Anything you can point me to would be appreciated. So far, they don't seem to down will selling just the latches.

 

[RWerksman]

Since there is power in there, I think this would be an awesome place to put a tiny peltier powered cooler.

A drawer that keeps 2+ cans of soda chilled would be so cool. Bonus points if there is a switch to reverse the polarity and also be able to keep coffee warm.

Concur. That assumes we can reverse engineer the pogo pins and discover the part number of the mating receptacle for it.

 

[sub]

The last bit is cost. Generally, I try to keep item cost down. This would likely balloon a bit in price - maybe to $100 or $150. Is that really viable for essentially a drawer? I'd really like to hear from folks that are interested. For me, personally, that feels like too much...

I would be totally fine with $150, or more, for a simple drawer as long as it looks and feels like an OEM part.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Concur. That assumes we can reverse engineer the pogo pins and discover the part number of the mating receptacle for it.

FWIW it's the same as all the other ones on the vehicle. I know someone was working on a scan of it to design caps/plugs to reduce aero, you could reach out to them and get the scan to make a matching print (I'll find the thread later and post it here)

Here are the cropped photos I took in Seattle '19. I'm motivated to find the YouTube clip that showed them opening it, but that's going to take a bit more time to find. Also, I'm sure my wife would LOVE to watch more Rivian videos with me

 

[Z R1S]

Concur. That assumes we can reverse engineer the pogo pins and discover the part number of the mating receptacle for it.

This would be great, but I'd agree probably a more limited base of interested people. Personally I'd love to just have a drawer that would give some additional storage with any locking type mechanism (with securing during braking a must). A guide I spoke with did not have any info on future OEM options that might have originally been spec'd for the explore package, but doesn't mean they won't come out with something.

 

[SilverII]

Count me in as interested. I'd use that space to store my "PPE". The current middle console will barely hold my current "PPE".

 

[Kacey3]

I love this idea so much that I was going to throw the camp speaker on my 3D scanner and start prototyping a drawer, but the speaker is too big. I will likely model it from the ground up when I find a bit of free time at work.

 

[RWerksman]

I would be totally fine with $150, or more, for a simple drawer as long as it looks and feels like an OEM part.

It will likely not.

To my knowledge, there hasn't been a single aftermarket accessory available for the R1T or R1S that emulates the material selection well. Everything is either 3D printed, injection molded, or uses a laser cut vinyl wrap. None of these match. The closet that I've seen uses wood and it also isn't OEM matching. The grey shading of the plastic alone is extremely difficult to match. It's not standard.

This might be the biggest barrier to entry here - expectations.

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