Volkswagen and Rivian officially team up on £4.5bn joint venture

American EV start-up Rivian and the Volkswagen Group have announced ‘Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies’ as the name of their shared company. With “Rivian's industry-leading software” and “Volkswagen Group’s significant global scale”, VW says the venture will bring “best-in-class software technology for both companies’ future electric vehicles”.

As part of the deal, Volkswagen is committing to invest a total of $5.8billion (£4.5billion) into Rivian by 2027, to gain access to the US firm’s advanced EV platform tech. Then, in the second half of this decade, we can expect to see new Rivian and Volkswagen Group cars or vans based on an all-new Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform created by the joint venture. As well as accelerating software and platform development, the brands also hope that pooling their resources can lower vehicle-production costs at a time when the flow of lower-priced electric cars from China into western markets is increasing.

While Rivian has been focused on electric trucks and SUVs, Volkswagen says the partnership will cover “all relevant vehicle segments, including subcompact cars”. Eyeing up Rivian’s electrical architecture and software, Volkswagen says it expects to launch its first models from the venture in 2027 - sharing technology with the upcoming Rivian R2 SUV due in 2026. This was revealed earlier this year, showcasing Rivian’s all-new platform.

Volkswagen says it will evolve Rivian’s modular EV architecture found in the R2 (which incorporates the battery into the platform and offers more than 340 miles of range) for its next-generation electric cars. These will be able to receive regular over-the-air updates, which VW says will increase “the added value throughout the entire lifecycle of the vehicle”. A working Volkswagen prototype with a production body has already been retrofitted with hardware from Rivian. 

Speaking about the deal, VW Group CEO Oliver Blume 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. 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.”

Rivian was founded in 2009 but revealed its first production car as recently as 2017. The R1S SUV and closely related R1T pick-up truck are on sale direct to US customers, and these have been joined more recently by the EDV panel van, more than 10,000 of which Amazon now has on its delivery fleet. 

This isn’t the only time Volkswagen has partnered with an American firm recently. Ford and VW combined resources on the Amarok and Ranger pick-up trucks, as well as the new Capri and ID.5, which are based on the same MEB architecture.

Subscribe to the UK's favourite car magazine: get Auto Express delivered every week...