Regarding this specific video - I watched it all and it continues to back up my faith that they really care about how nice their software is to use. But, it says nothing about the actual software stack - as in who is actually writing this code.
Case in point, Polestar has their software built on top of Volvo's software stack, but all the Polestar specific software is outsourced to Infosys (a software consulting company in India). It's the Polestar specific stuff written by Infosys that has all the bugs and issues. Their android app is pretty decent though, although the API it connects to appears to also have issues.
I'd really like to know what Scouts plans are regarding how their software is written - not what it will look like.
Respectfully, we are trying to tell you that Rivian is the one supplying the code. It was announced a while back.
This is the most recent press release about it.
One year after its founding, the joint venture “Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies” (RV Tech) is successfully collaborating with the Volkswagen Group and Rivian. The development of a state-of-the-art zonal architecture for future software-defined vehicles (SDVs) is progressing. Currently...
www.volkswagen-group.com
Wolfsburg, Germany / Palo Alto, California. One year after its founding, the joint venture “Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies” (RV Tech) is successfully collaborating with the Volkswagen Group and Rivian. The development of a state-of-the-art zonal architecture for future software-defined vehicles (SDVs) is progressing. Currently, RV Tech is preparing reference vehicles from the Volkswagen, Scout, and Audi brands with the SDV architecture for winter testing in Q1 2026. At the same time, the organization is being consistently developed: RV Tech now boasts a powerful international development team of more than 1,500 employees. With its new location in Berlin, the joint venture is also strengthening cross-site collaboration with the Volkswagen Group brands in Europe.
#Technology
Founded in November 2024, the joint venture is developing a state-of-the-art zonal electronic architecture and functional software – called Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture – for the Volkswagen Group and Rivian, targeting the Western Hemisphere. In the SDV-architecture, powerful modular central computers control all vehicle functions. Customers can benefit from highly automated driving features and advanced infotainment solutions that can be continuously updated via over-the-air updates – no service center visits required. This keeps vehicles always up to date and continuously improves the driving experience.
The Volkswagen Group will deploy this SDV architecture in electric vehicles based on the upcoming SSP platform. The company aims to offer technologically leading products across various segments, price ranges, and international markets. The SSP platform is expected to support a Group-wide vehicle volume of up to 30 million units.
Rivian will use the technologies created from the joint venture for its future products, R2, R3 and R3X and to keep its current vehicle fleet updated with the latest software.
Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, says: “Our joint venture with Rivian demonstrates how we at Volkswagen Group envision and deliver progress: with speed, precision, and a strong customer focus. The joint venture is rapidly developing the architecture for our future software-defined vehicles. Every step toward achieving our ambitious goals is being executed with determination and clear focus. In close collaboration with our brands, a technological foundation has been created in just twelve months that will enable a new digital driving experience for our customers at accessible prices. Together, this strategic partnership will set new standards for the future of mobility.”
RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian, says: “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. We’re incredibly excited about the launch of R2 in the first half of next year, which will showcase the advancements the joint venture has made.”
Winter testing with reference vehicles to begin in Q1 2026
At the beginning of 2026, RV Tech plans to send vehicles from the Volkswagen, Scout, and Audi brands into their first winter testing phase to evaluate the developed SDV features under cold conditions. The hardware and electronic architecture specifications for these reference vehicles have been defined since spring 2025. The goal is to validate the performance of the zonal SDV architecture under demanding climatic conditions.
Among the vehicles is the Volkswagen ID.EVERY1. Since summer 2025, work with engineering prototypes has been in full swing at RV Tech’s sites in Palo Alto and Irvine. The series model is scheduled to launch in 2027 as the first Group vehicle featuring a version of the SDV architecture, offering leading digital technologies in the fully electric entry-level segment.
In addition, the joint venture is working with Volkswagen Group brands on the next development stages and technical specifications for future models based on the SSP platform, which are expected to hit the market by the end of the decade. This helps to ensure that the brands can optimally align their upcoming models with the SDV architecture and integrate digital vehicle capabilities into series production in a reliable and efficient manner.
RV Tech is being systematically built up
The joint venture now boasts a powerful international development team of more than 1,500 employees. The teams are based in the USA, Canada, Sweden, Serbia, and also at a new location in Berlin. The German branch strengthens collaboration with the Group’s brands within the same time zone.
This is a Motortrend article about it
An update on the VW-Rivian Joint Venture on its first anniversary.
www.motortrend.com
The Latest Inside Rivian’s $6 Billion Deal to Rewire Volkswagen’s Future
An update on the VW-Rivian Joint Venture on its first anniversary.
New models for the Volkswagen, Audi, and Scout brands, imbued with Rivian tech, are preparing for winter testing according to the joint venture behind their development. Today marks the one-year anniversary of Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies, the joint venture between the two automakers
to develop new zonal computing architecture and software that all brands of both companies will use in future electric vehicles.
The work is progressing well with a team of more than 1,500 employees in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Serbia, and Berlin, the CEOs of both automakers told media today at an event to mark the anniversary.
The $5.8 billion deal to create the JV came together because VW was struggling with software issues and Rivan, while the decidedly smaller company, is advanced in creating what every automaker is pursuing: software-defined vehicles that can reliably be enhanced by over-the-air updates long after they have been purchased. As such, new driving and infotainment features can be added without having to visit a dealership. By partnering with Rivian, the Volkswagen Group can get advanced software and electrical architecture into its vehicles sooner.
Zonal Architecture Is a Game Changer
A zonal architecture features a handful of electronic control units (ECU) that can handle multiple functions in different zones of the car, all communicating with one another. Traditional approaches involved specialized ECUs for nearly every feature or function. Zonal architecture reduces the complexity while also ensuring no overarching software is needed to facilitate communication between dozens of ECUs from different suppliers. Zonal architecture relies on in-house ECUs.
The first vehicle using this new architecture
for Rivian will be the 2026 R2 SUV coming soon. It will also appear in
the smaller 2027 Rivian R3 and
the compact high-performance, off-road R3X, as well as updated versions of the
current R1 truck and
R1S SUV. “We’re incredibly excited about
the launch of R2 in the first half of next year, which will showcase the advancements the joint venture has made,” said Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe.
Volkswagen’s Model Rollout
For the Volkswagen Group,
the first vehicle is the Volkswagen ID.Every1, a tiny $22,000 electric hatchback on VW’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). The microcar will be built in Portugal for sale in Europe in 2027. It will not come to the U.S. The
first vehicle for North America will be the electric Volkswagen Golf in 2029.
The new Scout brand will also use the VW-Rivian architecture.
Winter testing of VW Group vehicles will begin in the new year to see how the zonal architecture holds up under harsh conditions and to evaluate features like driver assistance in extreme temperatures. Engineering prototypes of the ID.Every1 are already undergoing testing in Palo Alto (where the JV is headquartered) and Irvine, California. And Rivian has started winter testing of the R2 SUV.
The venture has ambitions projections of being used by about 30 vehicle programs and up to 30 million vehicles for the Volkswagen Group alone. Using Rivian’s software stack does not mean Cariad, the software arm of the Volkswagen Group that has been rife with issues, goes away. The software subsidiary continues to be responsible for existing electronic architectures: MEB, MQB, and maintenance of VW’s driver assistance systems and infotainment.
Cost-Savings and Simplicity
When designing a vehicle from scratch, you do things differently, Scaringe told media at a recent Automotive Press Association event at the Rivian facility in Plymouth, Michigan. As vehicles have added more intelligence over the past 60 years, companies have had to install more and more discrete ECUs. Today’s cars have 100 to 150 ECUs, each with its own software stack and code written by third parties so automakers are two or three levels detached from them, making it hard to manage and update.
Having a centralized computing platform where you own all the 0s in the code brings the coordinating costs way down, Scaringe said. This is the solution that Rivian licensed to VW who needed to strike quickly to compete with Chinese automakers. There are less than 10 auto companies in the world with this capability at the moment and only two—Rivian and Tesla—are outside China.
Trouble in Paradise?
There have been reports of some acrimony between the partners, with suggestions that the software is not as customizable as VW wanted, that Rivian is prioritizing the R2 over VW models, and Rivian is focusing on EVs rather than the combustion-powered vehicles VW wants to retroactively give zonal architecture.
The software might not be perfect, Scaringe said at the APA event in October, but he is pleased with the progress being made. He cited a seat that comes with six presets all with software requiring an ECU. “We don’t want that [from the supplier]. We want a dumb seat.” There are thousands of dollars of cost savings by these kinds of reductions and zonal architecture that can control everything. It will take time to change sourcing requirements and a reset of how companies do the electronics of a car.
Scaringe said he thinks the industry must transition to software-defined vehicles over the next 10 years. By 2035 companies need to cut costs by $3,000 to $4,000 via the adoption of over-the-air updates and he thinks it is inconceivable that companies will be able to operate without software-defined vehicles by then. Companies can do it themselves, which is hard, or they can license it, or they can do it with existing suppliers. Scaringe said while Rivian has an agreement with VW, he is open to license technology to other companies and has had a lot of interest.
