Solely a few years in the past, it appeared like international heavyweights Ford and Mercedes-Benz would find yourself tight with California-based EV startup Rivian. The maker of the all-electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV was simply getting began, however many assumed it might’ve had not less than two platform-sharing tasks with these two old-school titans.
Ford aimed to make use of Rivian’s skateboard platform for a Lincoln mannequin and a blue oval-branded EV. On the similar time, the partnership with Mercedes-Benz was meant to provide not less than two battery-powered vans at an current manufacturing facility in Europe. Each offers fell by means of, nevertheless, leaving Rivian to maneuver ahead by itself concerning manufacturing. Ford and Mercedes-Benz additionally went their very own methods.
Platform-sharing is tougher than it appears
There’s typically speak of platform-sharing between automobile firms as a easy resolution to filling sure market gaps. However whereas easy badge-engineering jobs just like the Ram ProMaster EV (which is only a rebadged Fiat) are easy sufficient, making a brand-new automobile utilizing bits from a special firm is not precisely a stroll within the park, as Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe defined throughout an interview with The Verge.
Now we all know why these partnerships ended as a result of the startup’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, spilled the beans throughout a prolonged interview with The Verge’s Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel for the Decoder podcast.
In brief, it had nothing to do with engineering constraints comparable to making an attempt to suit the physique of a Ford or Mercedes-Benz on high of a Rivian chassis–which is not any small feat in itself. As a substitute, it was all about making an attempt to make all of the totally different computer systems speak to one another, which, because it turned out, was a deal-breaker.
“We checked out car platform sharing with Ford, car platform sharing with Mercedes, each very publicly,” Scaringe stated. “What’s, in each case, all the time the problem is getting the community architectures of Rivian’s platform and people different producers that we’ve talked to to work collectively,” he added.
The California firm’s founder and head honcho stated that it’s a problem to get two very totally different architectures to run down the identical manufacturing line and that the largest technical boundary was community structure.
“It’s a problem in each potential method. It’s a problem to get the highest hat from a conventional firm that’s utilizing tons and many provider supply ECUs to work with our platform–battery, drivetrain, chassis that has only a few ECUs,” Scaringe stated in regards to the constraints.
There may need been additionally components at play, comparable to financials, however the CEO didn’t get into these particulars. As a substitute, he targeted on {the electrical} structure struggles. That’s why when the brand new cope with Volkswagen got here alongside, the primary speaking level was exactly “the factor that has all the time been the problem.”
As a reminder, VW is investing as much as $5 billion within the American EV maker to assist it overcome the software-related black spots that got here after years of delays and mishaps attributable to its personal software program subdivision often known as Cariad.
The 2 firms won’t collectively develop EVs within the conventional method. As a substitute, Rivian will supply its electrical structure know-how to make it simpler for Volkswagen to fabricate EVs that supply a hassle-free consumer expertise.
“We’ll present the topology of the ECUs, together with the bottom working system. That’s each for the infotainment platform and the real-time working system. There’s just a few totally different working programs we’ve constructed, after which the whole lot round over-the-air updates and connectivity,” Scaringe advised The Verge.
Then again, Ford appears to be going its personal technique to the identical finish objective, growing a skunkworks program out in California staffed by veterans from Tesla, Apple and sure, Rivian. That program will hopefully yield a brand new, low-cost EV structure to energy a probably $25,000 electrical truck and crossover. As for Mercedes-Benz, it is really scrapping a next-generation EV platform and appears to be refocusing on inside combustion. Maybe it’s going to find yourself wishing it had made a Rivian deal work out.