Rivian Travel Kitchen no replacement for Camp Kitchen

A new portable Travel Kitchen designed for Rivian R1 vehicles lets you cook and camp
Two induction burners plug into any 120-volt outlet with 15 amps
It costs $1,400 and includes a cutting board

Near the base of Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, a group of journalists and Rivian engineers and executives gathered around a campfire. The fire burned bright enough to thaw the nighttime gathering, and overcome mid-pandemic concerns about assembling indoors. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe took a break from wrangling his small kids to welcome the small crowd for Rivian's first vehicle launch, then we gathered bowls and utensils to eat from the Rivian R1T, like an old chuck wagon on the Oregon Trail.

Extending from the gear tunnel of the electric pickup truck was a camp stove. Chili and a veggie bean dish simmered on its two electric burners. The chef's implements sat in the tray that doubled as a washbasin beside it. The storage shelves on the other side of the unit held dishes, spices, pans, and other kitchen implements. The evening's meal would be powered by the same battery pack that supported the R1T up and around the Rocky Mountain pass above 12,000 feet.

2022 Rivian R1T

The next morning, the camp was broken down into memory and the kitchen apparently gone. It was packed from view for its next assignment of lunch in the field. Not in the bed, or the spacious front trunk, but slid on electric rails known as the Tunnel Shuttle into the R1T's gear tunnel between the crew cab and the short bed. The gear tunnel remains one of the big packaging advantages of an electric pickup truck, and the R1T's most distinctive competitive advantage.

2022 Rivian R1T

The retractable Camp Kitchen and electric Tunnel Shuttle were originally priced at about $6,500 together, but late in 2022, Rivian put a temporary pause on its cool all-in-one solution that turned the R1T, along with the still available rooftop tent, into a mobile home. The pause became permanent, and the reasons Rivian stopped offering it were as murky as a slop bucket.

Now Rivian has a new two-burner induction stove dubbed the Travel Kitchen, a seeming stopgap from what Rivian originally envisioned for the R1T as an all-in-one adventure vehicle. Announced on Thursday, the Travel Kitchen collapses to fit into the gear tunnel, or the frunk, or most trunks, so it's not limited to the R1S or R1T, even if it was designed for them.

Rivian's portable Travel Kitchen designed for the R1T and R1S

It plugs into a 120-volt outlet with 15 amps of current, and the twin burners share up to 1,500 watts that's adjustable on the touch-capacitive control panel. Rivian promises it heats food quickly and without smoke, and it's designed to lay flat on the R1T's folded-down tailgate and the R1S's split tailgate or on any flat surface.

A Rivian spokesperson told Green Car Reports that running the burners at full power for an hour would draw 1.0% to 1.4% of battery capacity, and it can be used simultaneously with the on-board air compressor or other accessories. It's portable, and the travel bag has handles to simplify moving it, but it weighs about 41 pounds total, so it's not as easy as sliding it in and out of the gear tunnel.

Rivian's portable Travel Kitchen designed for the R1T and R1S

It costs $1,400 and includes a cutting board, drawer organizer, and dangly little LED lights. Why not get a cheaper aftermarket one? It won't have that Rivian cachet or customized fit.

Even though Rivian dodged our question on what happened to the original Camp Kitchen, Rivian appears to be addressing it. A patent application published on July 18 shows a reimagined Camp Kitchen with an integrated grille. The unit slides into the gear tunnel.