Volkswagen has sealed its partnership with the American Tesla challenger Rivian. The first vehicles based on the new electric architecture should roll out as early as 2027, said CEO Oliver Blume at the start of the joint venture in Palo Alto, California. VW increased its investment in the project again: the Wolfsburg-based company wants to spend 5.8 billion euros on the collaboration, 800 million more than previously planned. With the joint venture, VW will then have access to the Americans’ electrical and software architecture. The two companies had already announced the cooperation at the end of June, and the Federal Cartel Office gave its approval in July. The collaboration involves software, control computers and network architecture. The plan envisages a joint venture in which development is to be carried out for both manufacturers and which they will manage equally. The basis will be Rivian’s existing electronics architecture, which will be further developed. New electric cars from VW will then gradually switch to Rivian’s technology and software. The first models with the new technology should launch in 2027, said Blume. “We start with Volkswagen, then Audi, Scout, Porsche and then all the other brands.” This includes all vehicle classes, from small cars to luxury cars and sports cars. This will enable large quantities and falling costs. However, Rivian technology will only be used in electric cars. Software problems caused delays. The Wolfsburg-based company has been struggling with problems with in-house software development for years, and there have been repeated delays. As a result, several model launches have already been delayed, some by several years. Rivian, on the other hand, developed its own architecture right from the start, in which the car electronics are divided into several zones with their own computers and thus make do with significantly fewer control devices. The second generation of the platform is now in use there. The new joint venture is scheduled to start operations this Wednesday. It will be based in Palo Alto, California, with additional locations planned in Europe and North America. The majority of the team will come from Rivian, plus a few colleagues from Volkswagen, said the founder and boss of the US partner, RJ Scaringe. The dual leadership consists of a manager from each side. Of the up to $5.8 billion that Europe’s largest car manufacturer wants to spend on the project, Rivian shares account for $3.5 billion. In addition, $2.3 billion will flow into the new joint venture, including $1 billion as a loan. Previously there had been talk of three billion dollars for the Rivian entry and two billion for the joint venture. Both sums have been increased again, Blume confirmed. Rivian is making high losses For Rivian, it is a very welcome cash injection. The company, founded in 2009, is still in the red and is currently struggling with declining interest in electric cars in the USA. “Certainly this partnership and this deal secures the capital for us” that is needed to further ramp up our own production, said Rivian boss Scaringe. In the last quarter, Rivian delivered around 10,000 vehicles, generating sales of $874 million and $392 million dollar loss. In the same period, the VW Group had almost 2.2 million deliveries, 78.5 billion euros in sales and, despite a massive slump in profits after taxes, still posted a surplus of 1.58 billion euros.More on the topicRivian is available in two vehicles that are popular in the USA Categories active, builds large SUVs and pickups. Rivian also produces electric delivery vans for Amazon, which can now also be seen in Europe. The world’s largest online retailer is also an investor.
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