Rivian and Volkswagen Group have launched their new joint venture, Rivian and VW Group Technologies, through which they aim to bring next-generation electrical architecture and software technology for their future EVs.
The joint venture will be headed by Wassym Bensaid (Rivian) and Carsten Helbing (Volkswagen Group), with developers and software engineers from both companies joining the JV. Teams will be based in Palo Alto, California, initially, and three other sites are also in development in North America and Europe. The companies plan to reduce development costs and scale new technologies more quickly by combining their expertise.
The JV will use existing Rivian’s existing electrical architecture and software technology stack, enabling the launch of Rivian R2 in the first half of 2026 followed by the expected launch of the first Volkswagen Group model as early as 2027. The JV will also pave way for new generations of high-volume vehicles that are fully capable of advanced automated driving and can integrate over-the-air updates (OTA) and upgrades. Customers will regularly receive new software updates, increasing the added value throughout the entire lifecycle of the vehicle.
Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, said, “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, “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.”
In 12 weeks, teams from Rivian and Volkswagen Group developed an initial demonstrator vehicle – a Volkswagen Group vehicle retrofitted to run on Rivian’s zonal hardware design and integrated technology platform.
