Rivian announces 5 new EVs, some co-designed with VW

Rivian has provided a glimpse of several electric vehicles listed as “in development” at the Investors’ Day this weekend. The presentation slide shows five models in total, two of them based on existing platforms and three on new platforms that have yet to be developed in collaboration with the company’s latest investor, Volkswagen.

Out of the five EVs planned for production in the new few years, one is designed on the same chassis as the R1T truck and R1S crossover. The company hasn’t provided any details about it yet, but it could be a light commercial van. The other car on the R1 platform could be a small pickup truck called R2 or R3.

As for the remaining three novelties, they are all affordable electric cars that the company will be designing together with Volkswagen. Rivian revealed that it received major investment from the company, and said a jointly owned (50/50) enterprise was already under construction.

In turn, the German car company said it was planning to put $1,000,000,000 into Rivian in 2024 and ultimately invest five times that amount into the U.S. startup. It’s worth noting in this context that Volkswagen was resurrecting the “Scout” off-road vehicle brand in the United States. Perhaps the company hopes to borrow some Rivian designs and rebrand them as Scout vehicles. This remains unconfirmed.