Rivian’s new tailgate design will rival Ford, Chevy, and Ram’s designs.
It will integrate a large central step to ease bed accessibility.
Rivian has won the race and got its R1T all-electric pickup to market first. They managed to out-manoeuvre Tesla, GM, Ram, and Ford but even so, Rivian will still allow itself to be inspired by the old Big-Three to make their truck more user-friendly. They’ve recently filed a patent for their own tailgate step.
Rivian R1T Tailgate patent application | Photo: USPTO
It’s not that Rivian had no idea how to design a pickup to be more capable and useful. In fact, they created the novel central Gear Tunnel that can be fitted with a slide-out kitchen or other large/long items that weigh up to 250 lbs.
Based on CarBuzz’s findings, Rivian’s tailgate step will deploy and drop down from the central portion of the gate and lower. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent filing demonstrates what the step will consist of but there seems to be no explanation of how it will work.
Rivian R1T | Photo: Rivian
Also not known is when the feature will be offered on the R1T pickup or how much the option will cost.
