Rivian filed a patent application for an amazing storage system for their electric trucks. The new system, which was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 6th (but had been originally filed in October of 2021), allows you to have built-in bins on the sides of your pickup bed. This type of system has already been used on certain Ram trucks and is even slated to be included in the 2025 Ram 1500 REV, Ram’s first ever all-electric model!
Rivian is using a really cool idea when it comes to adding storage compartments to the beds of their R1T pickups. Instead of just having regular boxes on the side, they have entire bed panels that can fold down and reveal multiple storage compartments. Plus, they’ve also added cutouts on either end of the bed for storing longer items like shovels and pickaxes.
This setup can do more than just hold stuff; it could also act like a tailgate. Fold-out panels could be used as seats while camping or in the stadium parking lot. The application even suggests that a fold-out table could be added, which seems like a great idea to go with the slide-out kitchen already available on the R1T.
Rivian, a carmaker, created some helpful ideas for its electric trucks. These included a telescoping and folding tailgate, as well as a tailgate step. Additionally, General Motors announced that it is planning to put a storage area in its tailgate called the Multistow tailgate! On the other hand, Ram has decided not to change their own storage design called ‘Ram Boxes’. This was first demonstrated at the 2023 New York auto show.
Rivian might decide to make their own special kind of storage system. It’s not yet decided if this will be used in their existing vehicles like the R1T or new cars coming out in 2026 based off the company’s R2 platform.