Did The Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Just Win The Truck Tailgate War? Go the insideevs.com link to see a full disucssion https://insideevs.com/news/388027/rivian-r1t-multi-function-tailgate/ In steps Rivian with its idea for the R1T tailgate. Called the Swing and Drop Tailgate, Rivian describes it in the patent filing as follows: “One drawback to this motion is that the tailgate now protrudes rearward of the vehicle, blocking the user from standing closer to the vehicle." “Other motions of a tailgate, such as a side-hinged tailgate that opens to the side may allow a user to stand closer to the vehicle, but this motion requires significant clearance and does not allow the increased horizontal space that the dropped down tailgate provides. It would be desirable for a tailgate to be capable of more than one motion, along more than one trajectory, to more conveniently adapt to a user’s needs." “A swing and drop tailgate assembly is configured to undergo more than one motion to provide access to cargo space, for example. For example, a tailgate assembly may be arranged at a boundary of the cargo space (e.g., the rear of a vehicle bed), and is configured to undergo more than one motion to allow access to the cargo space." The only major drawback we see to this design from Rivian is that if the truck was equipped with a hitch, the tailgate might contact it as it drops down. A solution could be some sort of sensor that warns the use of contact.
Wouldn't work for me, I leave my hitch receiver in all the time, more than once it has saved my truck from damage when some idiot doesn't pay attention to what their doing, last one that hit me was in a drivethru of all places. Woman driving was too busy yacking on her cell phone and punched a nice large hole in the front of her Cadillac bumper. No damage to my truck at all cept I had to go the carwash and get that GM stink off the ball
Not likely. As you concluded, and by your own assessment and I would agree it's not minor but a major problem - "The only major drawback we see to this design from Rivian is that if the truck was equipped with a hitch, the tailgate might contact it as it drops down." And it's not like this hasn't gone unnoticed by others. As reported by Carscoops - "There is one notable issue with such a tailgate design, though. If a Rivian R1T has a trailer hitch installed, the tailgate could fold directly onto it, causing a serious amount of damage. Rivian is aware of this issue, and in the patent describes the use of latches that could alter the angle at which the tailgate swings open to avoid hitting a trailer hitch." Ironically, some people have claimed (via comment section in articles) that the GMC tail gate has a similar problem. Some say just remove the hitch but as @RLXXI and others (in other article comments) point out they prefer to leave them in for convenience and other reasons. It will be interesting to see how Rivian will address this.
