As the Silicon Valley resident here, between Rivian's office in Palo Alto, VW's office in Belmont, Audi's office in San Jose, and Scout's "office" in Fremont that is likely TBD, I have no doubt I have no doubt I'll be seeing these prototypes next year and will make sure to report back.Rivian and Volkswagen will start testing their first EVs next year.
The joint venture, which operates under the official name Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, is prepping its first prototypes for winter testing in the first quarter of 2026
Yeah, I'd assume so. Make sure to keep an eye out for things for usAs the Silicon Valley resident here, between Rivian's office in Palo Alto, VW's office in Belmont, Audi's office in San Jose, and Scout's "office" in Fremont that is likely TBD, I have no doubt I have no doubt I'll be seeing these prototypes next year and will make sure to report back.
Nice. Yeah I love seeing all the prototypes driving around and these days it's a ton of AV companies testing their stuff. Some are badged like Nuro, Zoox, Wayve, Mercedes, etc., and some aren't like the unmarked Rav4 I saw this morning with a lidar and some kind of blade mounted to it's roof.Yeah, I'd assume so. Make sure to keep an eye out for things for us.
I lived in that area for 4 years. This was before Waymo was a thing, but after google had started self driving research/testing on public roads. And we'd see them on the roads there really frequently (I lived about a mile from Googles main campus, and cycled to work).
Nice. Yeah I love seeing all the prototypes driving around and these days it's a ton of AV companies testing their stuff. Some are badged like Nuro, Zoox, Wayve, Mercedes, etc., and some aren't like the unmarked Rav4 I saw this morning with a lidar and some kind of blade mounted to it's roof.
My favorite prototype I've seen in recent memory was March of 2024 when I was heading back from a meeting on the Cisco campus and noticed what was clearly an Audi R&D facility....so why not swing through in my unassuming/brand friendly A6 and see if anything interesting was in the back? Welp my curiosity was rewarded by seeing one of the below cars during their secret PoC running Rivian software. IIRC VW gave them 6 months to run all the car's systems on Rivian software and Rivian achieved it in 3, ultimately landing that $5-6B JV deal.
Not my pic, but it was one of these two cars.
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And wow, this is huge. I wonder if they think this will help with demand.
Tesla finally caved and announced CarPlay is coming.
This is a big shift for them and may influence the rest of the industry.
Well they have to do something. If it’s so bad they are turning their unsold inventory into a rental fleet they got problems.Yeah, that was right in my old stomping ground (used to ride past their buildings/through their parking lots as shortcuts sometimes). And you would see some weird stuff on the roads even then (~10 years ago). I bet now its even weirder.
And wow, this is huge. I wonder if they think this will help with demand.
Hell hast frozen over. Never thought I would see the day they would capitulate. They must be desperate.Yeah, that was right in my old stomping ground (used to ride past their buildings/through their parking lots as shortcuts sometimes). And you would see some weird stuff on the roads even then (~10 years ago). I bet now its even weirder.
And wow, this is huge. I wonder if they think this will help with demand.
Forgot to mention, yesterday Waymo announced they've expanded coverage area to cover basically the whole peninsula east of 280.Yeah, that was right in my old stomping ground (used to ride past their buildings/through their parking lots as shortcuts sometimes). And you would see some weird stuff on the roads even then (~10 years ago). I bet now its even weirder.
And wow, this is huge. I wonder if they think this will help with demand.
Especially because wasn't one of their advantages over a non-Tesla EV that they had the best infotainment setup? Like at this point why not get a BMW i4?Hell hast frozen over. Never thought I would see the day they would capitulate. They must be desperate.
Maybe if they fired their south afrikan white aupremacist ceo and stripped him of his shares to compensate American taxpayers for the damage to our nation - that would be a good place to start looking for penance.Well they have to do something. If it’s so bad they are turning their unsold inventory into a rental fleet they got problems.
But I’ve genuinely enjoyed 99.6% of this experience so far.
Totally agree about the visibility of charging station, but disagree on percentages. I like detailed info.
I think he has a point.
And we are so happy that you did!
There are only a few areas in the US where I would feel uncomfortable just getting into my fully charged Lightning or Mustang and going for a 3-day one-way road trip. Mostly chunks of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. I would have to plan which route to travel across those states. Everywhere else has enough charger density that if a friend in Chicago or DC or Atlanta or Bangor or Seattle or ... called and told me they needed me and my Lighting as soon as possible, the only questions would be about extension cords and tools.Totally agree about the visibility of charging station, but disagree on percentages. I like detailed info.
But generally I’d like to get to the point where we don’t need charging route planners anymore. I want to know that there’s likely to be a charging station soon so when I get down to 10-20% I can start looking for a convenient one, just like gas stations, which I can see from the freeway and there are signs that tell me if there’s one at this exit coming up.
Congrats!?But I’ve genuinely enjoyed 99.6% of this experience so far.