Volkswagen pledges even more money to its joint venture with Rivian

During the summer, Volkswagen and Rivian struck a deal to form a joint venture to work on software and the development of electrical architecture for EVs. The initial VW investment was planned to be $5 billion, but VW has now adjusted it up to $5.8 billion.

The funding will come through in the next few years. About $1.3 billion will be spent on software development, another $3.5 billion will be allocated to purchasing Rivian shares, and about $1 billion will be for a potential loan from VW Group to Rivian.

The initial deal is for Volkswagen to secure the funding, while Rivian will contribute its expertise in developing software and electrical architecture.

The joint venture should begin operations on November 13 and the first model to feature technologies from the two companies will be the upcoming Rivian R2 compact SUV. Other VW-branded vehicles will follow before the tech trickles down to Audi and VW's new Scout EV brand.

The base of operations will be in Silicon Valley for now and will employ about 1,000 engineers, but three additional sites in the US and Europe are planned.

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