Rivian has filed a patent software for an in-bed storage system for its electrical vans.

In a patent software printed by the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on April 6 (and initially filed Oct. 5, 2021) Rivian particulars storage bins constructed into the edges of a pickup’s mattress. The system is just like the Ram Field system provided on Ram vans for a number of years now and slated for the 2025 Ram 1500 REV, the model’s first all-electric mannequin.

Ram Packing containers are literal packing containers constructed into the mattress sides, however Rivian goes for one thing a bit extra elaborate. The patent software describes whole outdoors mattress panels that fold down, which, in a single configuration, reveals a number of storage compartments. Accompanying drawings additionally present cutouts on both facet of the mattress for longer objects, like an uncovered model of the Gear Tunnel storage compartment positioned behind the cab in Rivian R1T pickups.

This setup may very well be used for greater than storage, the appliance suggests. The fold-out panels might function seating, simply as tailgates do when tenting or partying in a stadium parking zone. A fold-out desk may be included, Rivian suggests within the software, which looks as if a very good addition to the slide-out camp kitchen the corporate has proven for the R1T.

Rivian has floated a couple of different concepts for wringing extra utility out of its electrical vans. Earlier patent purposes confirmed telescoping and folding tailgates, in addition to a tailgate step. Normal Motors, in the meantime, lately filed a trademark software for a Multistow tailgate, hinting that it is planning to include some storage into the tailgate as effectively. Ram appears content material with its Ram Packing containers, which have been proven in pretty-much-unchanged kind on the Ram 1500 REV on the 2023 New York auto present.

If Rivian decides to place its personal mattress storage system into manufacturing, it is unclear if will probably be included into the present R1T or next-generation automobiles primarily based on the corporate’s R2 platform, which is anticipated to launch in 2026.