Volkswagen and Rivian have crossed all their T’s and dotted all their I’s in , which officially kicks off its work on November 13th, the companies announced today. Last June, VW said it would invest $5 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that’s focused on developing a new electrical architecture and vehicle software for future models, including subcompact cars, with the first planned for 2027. Now that investment has grown to $5.
8 billion. “Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC” The new joint venture, dryly named “Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC,” will be led by Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid and VW Group chief technology engineer Carsten Helbing. Teams will be based in Palo Alto, California, initially, and three other sites are in development in North America and Europe.
Developers and engineers from both companies will fill out the ranks of the new venture. Rivian also showed off a prototype vehicle to a small group of reporters at its Palo Alto office. , the vehicle was a VW test vehicle with Rivian software that was created by the joint venture’s engineering team over a 12-week period.
With the deal now closed, Rivian will receive an initial $1 billion loan from VW, followed by $1.3 billion in shares in Rivian, and an additional $3.5 billion over the next few years, VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said in a call with reporters Tuesday.
The technology that emerges from the joint venture will underpin vehicles from both companies, from Rivian�.
