Rivian's Influence Is Accelerating Volkswagen's EV Program Timeline

Rivian and Volkswagen announced their joint venture, but the bigger news is how the EV startup convinced the legacy carmaker to sign the partnership. Rivian reportedly needed only three months to equip an Audi Q6 e-tron prototype with its zonal architecture and software. This contrasts with Volkswagen's efforts, which spent years and billions of dollars trying to build a software-defined vehicle and still failed.

Rivian and Volkswagen Group made their joint venture official on November 12, a step that was long in the making. The announcement marked an important achievement for the cash-strapped Rivian but also for the tech-laggard Volkswagen. As part of the deal, Volkswagen gets access to Rivian's zonal architecture and software. Rivian, in turn, gets crucial financial support to continue the development of its midsized platform and the opportunity to lower production costs through economy of scale.

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