SAN FRANCISCO/BERLIN - A few camouflaged Audis arrived secretly from Germany early this year at a facility of electric vehicle maker Rivian in California, where some 30 engineers stripped the electronics and fitted them with the U.S. startup's harnesses and modules.
"I think it's an accomplishment in its own right that this hasn't leaked, given the amount of work that's already happened... and the number of people involved across our teams," Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters. The talks that led to the dramatic tie-up began, Scaringe said, when he and Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume met privately at Porsche's experience center in Atlanta."We just went deep, talking product and comparing notes on the things we like," Scaringe told reporters. "There was immediate realization that we have some shared vehicle interests. Quickly that led to a serious conversation as to how can we look at working together.
His comments were aimed at alleviating VW investor concerns about whether the company's traditional, more methodical approach to automaking and multiple supplier contracts would clash with Rivian's nimble software approach. "This isn't as if it's something that we thought of a month ago," Scaringe told Reuters on Tuesday. "This has been a long work in progress.""To be able to see a Porsche on the road that has our technology in them, I couldn't be more excited," he said.
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