Volkswagen and Rivian team up to develop electric vehicle technology, expected to launch in 2027

Volkswagen initially pledged to spend $5 billion to collaborate on software and architecture, but this week announced it would increase its stake

In Europe, Volkswagen Group is considering closing factories and forcing workers to take pay cuts in an effort to save the struggling company some money. But on the other side of the Atlantic, the company is spending big money, announcing this week that it will increase its investment in Rivian to $5.8 billion.

As early as June, Volkswagen revealed that it would invest $5 billion in Rivian to form a joint venture to develop electrical architecture and software for use in the two companies’ vehicles. Volkswagen’s own software unit, Cariad, has been a major PITA for the automaker in recent years, with its disruptions delaying the launch of models like the Porsche Macan Electric by a year.

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The technology is not entirely new, but is based on Rivian’s existing systems. VW said the first car using the new software will debut in 2027, and the technology will be shared across a variety of models across the VW Group, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and the new Scout Motors. But if Rivian can deliver the new little R2 in 2026 as promised, it looks set to be the first to deploy the software.

Of course, with delivery dates approaching, work on the architecture is already well underway ahead of the two automakers’ official launch of Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC this week. Bloomberg Rivian reportedly showed a group of reporters a Volkswagen test car that adapted to Rivian software within 12 weeks.

The new joint venture will employ developers and software engineers from both companies and will be headquartered in Palo Alto, California. But three additional sites in North America and Europe are reportedly in development.

Writing on Linkedin, Volkswagen COO Arno Antlitz said the two automakers’ strengths — VW’s scale and vehicle architecture expertise and Rivian’s best-in-class technology stack — made them ideal partners.