"The California-based EV startup gets $5.8 billion in much-needed investment from VW and cheaper electronics thanks to the German giant's massive scale. In exchange, Volkswagen gets fancy new "zonal architectures" for all of its upcoming electric cars across brands from Skoda to Lamborghini. These systems of high-powered computers and the software that ties everything together should allow for richer software features and better software updates."
"But everything besides the foundational systemslike autonomous driving features or user interfaceswill need to be added on by each brand. The two companies' $5.8 billion deal gives Rivian a financial runway and VW access to cutting-edge underlying vehicle technology. Photo by: Rivian The JV's leaders think other manufacturers will line up for access, too, now that vehicles are becoming increasingly technology-defined. "On the one hand, software is essential. But software is hard," Bensaid said."
Rivian and Volkswagen created RV Tech, a joint venture building shared electrical, computing, and software architectures for upcoming Rivian, Audi and Porsche models. The JV concentrates on the R2 platform and initial VW models while planning to sell its foundational architecture to other automakers. Volkswagen invested $5.8 billion and provides scale to lower electronics costs. The JV supplies zonal architectures—high-powered computers and integrated software—to enable richer features and better over-the-air updates. Brands must add higher-level systems like autonomous driving and user interfaces on top of the foundation. RV Tech leaders expect broad industry interest as vehicles become technology-defined and software proves central but hard.
Read at insideevs.com
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