VW and Rivian: Status of the Revival of the Zonal Architecture for the Second-Generation R1 Models and Software

VW isn’t the first legacy automaker to partner with Rivian. The company was going to develop an electric SUV with Ford, but those plans were scuttled because of the covid epidemic. The plan was to use Rivian’s battery pack and electric motor setup in a Ford or Lincoln branded SUV. Ford invested half a billion dollars in Rivian as part of the plan.

Scaringe said the partnership will bring Rivian’s new zonal architecture, available now through its refreshed second-generation R1 vehicles, as well as its software, to a “broader market.” Rivian recently became one of the few companies beyond Tesla to use a zonal architecture for its vehicles that rely on fewer electric control units than usual.

VW has struggled with its own struggles around electric vehicles. The company’s plug-in models are selling well, but its market share in North America is shrinking. And its software has been plagued by bugs and customer complaints.

Another thing to note is that the affordable mass-market vehicles are all different shapes. I know, we can’t trust the shapes! But this could still mean that there are at least small, medium, and large vehicles in the works for that category. That seems important.

Investigating the Shapes of the MSPs: The R2, R3, and R3 Motors that will be built in a Midsized Platform

I was too engrossed in Rivian’s $5 billion deal with Volkswagen to notice that the California company was planning an investor day event on June 27th.

I was surprised when I woke up on Wednesday to see the shareholder letter and it had a picture of a mystery vehicle on it.

The new mystery vehicles are either a bold strategy for the future or a desperate effort to stay relevant amidst rising costs and cooling interest in electric vehicles. I will take a look at the vehicles to see if we can guess what they are.

That does not appear to be a van shape. It’s definitely more truck-shaped — although InsideEVs editor-in-chief (and former Verge contributor) Patrick George makes a strong argument that we shouldn’t read too much into the shapes. They could be stock images or just placeholders. If anything, Rivian could actively be trying to throw sleuths off the scent with these shapes. (Rivian spokesperson Liz Markman declined to comment on the mystery vehicles.)

In the next column, we can see the R2 and R3, both of which were unveiled in March. There’s another mystery vehicle on top of that column. And all three vehicles will be built on an electrical architecture called “MSP,” which stands for “midsized platform.”