New official Travel Kitchen is coming! See it at Rivian Launch Mode Event

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I’m thinking Rivian saw the camp kitchens from @RANGE INDUSTRIES and @Thunderbolt Adventure and decided they needed to do something different. Those two 3rd party kitchens improved on Rivian’s original design and did it for a significantly lower price. Also, there’s the fact that the original camp kitchen design can only work on the slower selling R1T. This design can be used on current and future Rivian vehicles, as well as pretty much anyone else that has enough on board power.

I don't really care for the Thunderbolt design. And supposedly the real reason Rivian axed the entire gear tunnel slide was due to having issues with the slides getting stuck extended.

I have slides identical to what Rivian was using, and which appear to be the same slides Range Industries is using, for my in-bed storage. Definitely have issues with the slides not wanting to unlatch in the extended position after heavy use, where they didn't exhibit this problem initially. Even when loaded up with 400 lbs of sand bags during my initial testing. The more I used them and the more crap that ends up getting into the tracks, the worse it has gotten.

For me, it's not more than a big annoyance, but non-mechanically minded people would essentially end up stranded if they are unable to figure out how to get it unstuck. I'm planning on refactoring the latching setup for mine into something that doesn't require locking slides, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Locking is absolutely necessary if you're doing stuff with a hot stove and pans on it.

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[R1SFamilyGuy]

I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to post this!

from a recent road trip - was charging at an EA (350kw) at Tully, NY.

didn’t want to pass the opportunity to make curry on Currie Road

 

[Doctor Z]

Tbh, I'm still interested. I like to camp, but not 5k gear tunnel kitchen camping. This kinda fits my waffle/bacon camping tailgate Rivian lifestyle

Just missing a built in change table, and frunk pizza oven

where you gonna mount the TV??

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I’m thinking Rivian saw the camp kitchens from @RANGE INDUSTRIES and @Thunderbolt Adventure and decided they needed to do something different. Those two 3rd party kitchens improved on Rivian’s original design and did it for a significantly lower price. Also, there’s the fact that the original camp kitchen design can only work on the slower selling R1T. This design can be used on current and future Rivian vehicles, as well as pretty much anyone else that has enough on board power.

My source says they moved away from gear tunnel kitchen due to customer and internal feedback that more people prefer to keep the storage capacity, rather than give it up to a kitchen that is used a handful of times a year.

 

[Rivdog]

Cool idea to try and have a permanently-installed kitchen somehow, whether it be in the bed or gear tunnel, but it seems like that is something best left to 3rd parties. Too many different needs amongst potential consumers to develop one that will make everyone happy. At even just $1,000, it’s a hard sell to not just use a propane burner on the tailgate and avoid needing to keep the outlets on and increase the vampire drain in the backwoods. Nice to have the option for electric at high altitude though, no doubt.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

My source says they moved away from gear tunnel kitchen due to customer and internal feedback that more people prefer to keep the storage capacity, rather than give it up to a kitchen that is used a handful of times a year.

That's not surprising. I throw all my crap into the gear tunnel.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Cool idea to try and have a permanently-installed kitchen somehow, whether it be in the bed or gear tunnel, but it seems like that is something best left to 3rd parties. Too many different needs amongst potential consumers to develop one that will make everyone happy. At even just $1,000, it’s a hard sell to not just use a propane burner on the tailgate and avoid needing to keep the outlets on and increase the vampire drain in the backwoods. Nice to have the option for electric at high altitude though, no doubt.

In this business it's unusual for official accessories to not be farmed out to 3rd parties. I think Rivian originally set out to fulfill a vision and ran into the clash between competing priorities: vision, costs and business case. Not many customers would be willing to pay $4~6k for something that reduces everyday utility and gets used only a few times a year. At the same time, they can't offer nothing and leave it all to the aftermarket, miss out on revenue. There is a subset of customers who would by something with the Rivian logo over all alternatives.

That's not surprising. I throw all my crap into the gear tunnel.

Same. It's more convenient and rattle-proof than the bed.

 

[Thunderbolt Adventure]

Eh, hard pass. Rivian's gear tunnel kitchen would have been amazing these last two years.

We've sold a fair number of this design to current and former Rivian employees. Let me know if I can answer any questions:
https://www.thunderboltadventuresupply.com/collections/r1t-gear/R1T

 

[Taco Corp]

A couple years into Rivian camping I'm more interested in the tailgate option than one that takes up the gear tunnel space. That said I bought an induction burner that plugs in and I already have a cutting board and whatnot so not sure I need to spend money on a dedicated setup. For the right price though it might be worth it.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

It looks like this design may clamshell/ fold in half, it'll be a miss if it doesn't fit in the frunk or some weeathertite non-cabin lcoation.
I pulled my DIY camp kitchen out a couple months back.

While it was nice to never have to think about packing up the kitchen. it just proved to be kind of impractical

I go at least once a week to the beach and have a cookout with my family.
Now that it is summer it is impossible to find a parking spot that would accommodate the space needed to deploy a camp kitchen to cook.

On the other hand, unless I back up to a wall, I can cook from my tailgate with little fuss.

 

[mrgreat]

Is this also can fit in a R1S (without the cheesy lights and poles) might be interesting..

 

[HighVoltOverland]

Is this also can fit in a R1S (without the cheesy lights and poles) might be interesting..

Yeah I think the plan is for it to work with all their vehciles, seeing how this was introduced during the r2 launch

 

[VSG]

Those two 3rd party kitchens improved on Rivian’s original design and did it for a significantly lower price.

Disagree on both points.

I'm not going to try to pick on those other designs just to make a point, instead let me say that the features from the Rivian design that I was most excited about do not appear in either of these two designs. Maybe they'll get there eventually, but right now the original Rivian Camp Kitchen design was significantly better IMO.

As for the price, again, compare apples to apples. The Rivian Camp Kitchen at $5k (my original price) came with over $1000 of Snow Peak gear. And came with an integrated water tank and pump. Both of those other two designs are $4k or more, and after you buy your own Snow Peak stuff (apples to apples, remember) and water tank/pump etc. you will end up spending more than that original Rivian design. And if you want to buy just the slide, again the Rivian design at $1500 installed with factory warranty is cheaper than these other two designs when you take into account shipping costs and installation time.

Again, I'm not saying the third party alternatives are bad, I just saying it's not true that they are "significantly lower price".

My source says they moved away from gear tunnel kitchen due to customer and internal feedback that more people prefer to keep the storage capacity, rather than give it up to a kitchen that is used a handful of times a year.

The Rivian design came in three modules that could be removed from the slide by just one person, either to store after a trip (like I do with my RTT), or to use at a campsite. Being able to easily install and remove the modules without tools was a huge advantage. The "handful of times a year" argument doesn't wash because you only have it in your vehicle when you need it (again, like a RTT). It also allowed you to have your own modules for when you weren't camping - a tool box for instance. And since the slide had T-track and power, there are a lot of aftermarket attachments and mounts that you could put on it, and a standard mounting/power system like this would have enabled third party manufactures to make their own modules.

I had the original camp kitchen on my order since day 1 (Nov 2020, when we were first allowed to configure our vehicles). But I'm not interested in this new travel kitchen - I already have all those pieces in a bin that I take when camping - I don't see how this new thing is more convenient than what I currently have. The big advantage to a Gear Tunnel kitchen is that you can deploy it anywhere almost instantly and put it away just as quick - no need to unpack the bed and set up camp just to boil some water.

 

[Nuclianba]

IKEA makes a travel induction burner for $70. I just don't know how you beat that.

 

[Davethadog]

Anybody see this at the Denver event the other day?

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