VW Bets On Rivian To Fix Its Gas Car Software Struggles Too

VW and Rivian’s Joint Venture: A New Era for Automotive Software

Although the new architecture co-developed by VW and Rivian was initially intended for electric vehicles (EVs), it may also be implemented in non-EVs in the future.

VW and Rivian’s joint venture, RV Tech, has made significant progress in developing a new zonal electronic architecture for their future electric models. The partnership, which was announced a year ago, has already employed 1,500 engineers and is preparing for winter testing in early 2026.

Key Highlights:

• VW and Rivian’s joint venture employs 1,500 engineers on new software.
• VW’s first car with Rivian tech will be the all-electric ID.Every1 model.
• Several upcoming Rivian models will share the new software system.

The software stack being developed by RV Tech is expected to be used in VW’s upcoming EVs, including the ID.Every1, which is scheduled to hit the market in 2027. The technology stack can support up to 30 million vehicles and may also be used in ICE models in the future.

According to Carsten Helbing, co-chief executive of RV Tech, “For sure, it is an extremely capable architecture and we could allow for future use to also use it for ICE, but as we already outlined our clear focus is on BEV implementation and whatever comes after that is to be decided at a later stage.”

Rivian Models to Benefit from New Tech

Rivian will also use the technologies being developed by RV Tech for its R2, R3, and R3X models and will update its current fleet with the latest software. Rivian boss RJ Scaringe noted, “We remain incredibly excited by the work coming out of our joint venture with Volkswagen Group. RV Tech has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months and is raising the bar in automotive technology.”