Rivian’s collaboration with Volkswagen might just be one of the most consequential pairings in today’s EV landscape. It brings a much-needed cash boost for Rivian and, in return, gives VW access to some of the most compelling electric vehicle software and zonal architecture currently in development. Now, a key Rivian executive has made it clear that the partnership may be even more pivotal for VW than initially expected.

Read: Next VW Golf EV Will Ride On Rivian’s Electric Architecture

Wassym Bensaid, Rivian’s chief software officer and co-head of the Rivian-VW joint venture, recently spoke with Yahoo! and revealed that all future EVs from VW will use the same platform as the American brand’s upcoming R2 series. Evidently, the German giant using its partner’s know-how on EVs is the best way to move forward.

VW EVs Will Adopt Rivian’s Scalable Software Platform

“R2 is the platform that will underpin actually all future EV products from VW,” Bensaid said. “It’s really that modular, scalable technology stack that we will take into VW brands. We will do it in a way where we will still allow different brands to express their own identity. Each brand will have its own UI, look and feel, their own suspension tuning, but underneath the guts of the vehicle, will be optimized from the same technology and software architecture.”

Importantly, the R2 platform that Bensaid is referring to appears to be limited to the “technology stack” and not necessarily the physical platform itself. VW is already deep into the development of its in-house SSP architecture that has been confirmed to replace the current MEB and is set to be used by the next-generation electric Golf and all-electric T-Roc.

Multiple Platforms Still in Play for VW

At the same time, VW is working with Chinese automaker Xpeng on a separate project. The platform, known as China Electrical Architecture (CEA), is designed to significantly cut costs compared to the MEB. VW expects it to lower production expenses by up to 40 percent, which could be a crucial step in making its EVs more price-competitive in China.

“R2 is an evolution of the architecture that we introduced with our [R1] Gen2 vehicles, and there’s a ton of lessons learned that went into how we make the R2 from a technology standpoint, from engineering [to] … manufacturing,” Bensaid added. “That is allowing us to really not only make progress, but we’re extremely happy with the maturity of R2 compared to where R1 was.”

Production of the Rivian R2 is currently scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, and it will be followed by the smaller, more affordable R3 lineup. With VW committing to the same software backbone, both brands are banking on the idea that a shared foundation can deliver scale, speed, and flexibility across a wide range of electric vehicles.