Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🔌 Rivian’s powered tonneau cover has passed field tests and is set to begin installations by the end of the month.
- 📧 Rivian has informed customers with service tickets about the upcoming installations and will schedule appointments on a rolling basis.
- 🚙 Last year, Rivian temporarily removed the powered tonneau cover option, offering customers a manual cover or no cover.
- 💡 Earlier this year, the CEO announced the updated tonneau cover, which has now resurfaced on the R1T configuration page on the company’s website.
- 🛠️ Field testing focused on durability and repeatability, with the goal of ensuring the new units perform well.
- 🗓️ The powered tonneau cover is an important feature for Rivian’s R1T electric pickup truck.
Rivian’s powered tonneau cover has passed field tests, and the company is ready to start installations by the end of the month. Rivian already emailed customers with service tickets, seeking to install or fix their powered tonneau covers.
The company’s email to customers was shared on Rivian Forums and reads as follows:
“We recently completed in-field testing for our updated powered tonneau cover and are happy to report the new units are performing well in terms of durability and repeatability, which has been our primary goal.”
“Our Service Team will begin reaching out to owners with existing service tickets next week, with installations starting later this month. We will be reaching out to schedule appointments on a rolling basis, not all at once.”
In October 2022, Rivian emailed a notice to Rivian R1T customers informing them that the powered tonneau cover would be temporarily removed from production. The company claimed it was upgrading the tonneau cover. R1T customers were left to choose between a manual tonneau cover or no cover at all.
Earlier this year, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe announced that the updated tonneau cover would be released by midsummer. However, his announcement came a little too early. Last month, though, Rivian started tinkering with its website and discreetly revived the option for a powered tonneau cover in its R1T configuration page.
