Volkswagen and Rivian, the US-based startup EV car maker, have officially sealed a tech-sharing deal announced earlier this year.
Next generation architecture
The full title of the new joint venture company formed by the agreement between the two car makers is Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. It’s being funded by €5.8 billion worth of investment, and the plan is that the new company will “bring next-generation electrical architecture and best-in-class software technology for both companies’ future electric vehicles, covering all relevant vehicle segments, including subcompact cars.”
It doesn’t necessarily mean that Rivian products will use VW chassis or vice versa. Really, it’s more about VW getting access to Rivian’s cutting-edge - and much-praised - in-car software while Rivian can get access to VW’s huge engineering and manufacturing strength.
US market expertise
Equally, Volkswagen has just relaunched the Scout brand in the US (formerly the International Harvester Scout) and will doubtless draw on Rivian’s expertise in launching an electric pickup in the US market.
The joint venture will be headed up by Wassym Bensaid (from Rivian) and Carsten Helbing (from Volkswagen Group). It will initially have its headquarters in Palo Alto, California - the heart of Silicon Valley. Other centres and offices around the US and Europe are also being planned.
The goal of the joint venture, so say VW and Rivian, is to produce cutting edge software for cars and get it in front of consumers as soon as possible.
Equally, the joint venture will work first on getting Rivian’s ultra-cool R2 electric SUV into production by 2026. The first VW models to benefit from the joint work should be on sale by 2027.
Retro-fitted VW with Rivian tech
A combined team of VW and Rivian engineers has apparently already been working together and has - in just 12 weeks - retrofitted a VW EV (it doesn’t say which one, but our money’s on a Buzz) to run on Rivian software and hardware.
Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said: “The partnership with Rivian is the next logical step in our software strategy. With its implementation, we will strengthen our global competitive and technological position. The launch of the joint venture demonstrates the potential we want to leverage together in the coming years. We have a clear plan to offer our customers the best products and digital experiences at attractive prices through state-of-the-art development processes, innovative technological approaches, and a competitive cost base driven by synergies.”
RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian, said: “Today’s finalisation of our joint venture with Volkswagen Group marks an important step forward in helping transition the world to electric vehicles. We’re thrilled to see our technology being integrated in vehicles outside of Rivian, and we’re excited for the future. Rivian will continue to stay focused on creating best in class products and services that benefit our customers, helping to drive EV adoption.
Carsten Helbing, designated future co-CEO of the joint venture, said: “We have made a successful start. Over the past few months, we’ve created the framework for bringing together the JV teams and pooling our resources. We are thrilled with the rapid progress we have achieved in the preparatory phase. This has laid the foundation for our future success.”
Wassym Bensaid, co-CEO of the joint venture, said: “We’re excited to have entered into this joint venture, and welcome colleagues from both Rivian and Volkswagen Group to our new venture. The aim of the joint venture is to speed up innovation, increase scale and lower the cost of owning an EV for millions of people around the world. I’m hugely impressed by the work done already. While the demonstrator vehicle only scratches the surface of what is possible, it’s incredibly exciting to see what is possible when a new OEM and a legacy automaker work closely together.”