Rivian's R2 will 'underpin' all future Volkswagen EVs, exec says
When Volkswagen (VOW.DE) invested billions of dollars in a joint venture with Rivian (RIVN), it was seen as a win-win for both companies. The German giant would have access to Rivian's zonal architecture and systems for EVs, and Rivian received the cash — and time — for its future product buildout, including the R2 mid-sized SUV.
A good deal, for sure, for both sides. VW's software initiatives had hit snags, most significantly with its CARIAD software unit, which led to big delays for its EVs in the Porsche and Audi portfolio. As for Rivian, it still isn't making money, though it did reach some profitability milestones last quarter. The upstart electric vehicle maker needs the billions provided by VW to update its factory and get R2 into production.
Wassym Bensaid, Rivian's chief software officer and co-head of the Rivian-VW joint venture, aims to right the ship for VW and help get Rivian software products to as many users as possible.
Bensaid's team is responsible for the entire technology stack that underpins Rivian vehicles and the 'end-to-end user experience' — think software updates and software for the Rivian Charging network. Since November, he's been co-CEO of the joint venture with VW Group.
Bensaid said Rivian's upcoming R2, a midsize Tesla (TSLA) Model Y competitor, is a major key to the deal.
"R2 is the platform that will underpin actually all future EV products at VW," Bensaid said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "So it's really that modular, scalable technology stack that we will take into VW brands, and we will do it in a way where we will still allow each of the brands to express their own identity."
With that platform and tech stack, Rivian will offer almost an 'off-the-shelf' solution for Volkswagen to use for its upcoming ID1 EV. But the plan is that other VW brands like Skoda and Audi would get access to the R2 platform to use as they please.
"Each brand will have their own UI, look and feel," Bensaid said. "Each brand will have their own suspension tuning … but underneath the guts of the vehicle will be optimized based on the same technology and software architecture."
Speaking of the R2, Rivian is slated to begin production in the first half of 2026, with the first models rolling off the line sometime after that.
'R2 is an evolution of the architecture that we introduced with our [R1] Gen2 vehicles, and there's a ton of lessons learned that went into how we make the R2 from a technology standpoint, from engineering [to] ... manufacturing," Bensaid said. "That is allowing us to really not only make progress, but we're extremely happy with the maturity of R2 compared to where R1 was."
He added that developing the R2 for production has been easier and more efficient than the original R1.
With Rivian's pricey R1 vehicles the only products on offer, Rivian needs the R2 launch to happen soon and on time in order to expand sales. It doesn't help that the status of the federal EV tax credit is in limbo and may be gone if the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' is passed by the Senate.
But the bigger issue is that customers are asking about the R2 — and whether it will arrive on time and at the targeted $45,000.
"Everybody is waiting for the R2; everybody is excited about the R2," Bensaid said. "It's the absolute No. 1 priority for the customer."
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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