RV Tech, the joint venture between Volkswagen Group and Rivian Automotive Inc., has completed the winter testing for its software-defined vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025—meeting a key milestone that unlocks a $1 billion investment from Volkswagen.
The funding was contingent on the successful completion of the winter testing program, Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said during a February earnings call.
Testing of key hardware and software functions such as all-wheel drive, traction control, and driving performance, was held in Phoenix, Arizona, and Arjeplog, Sweden conducted by a joint team from Volkswagen, Audi, Scout and RV Tech.
“This is how we are driving development forward across the Volkswagen Group – with the ambition to become the global automotive tech driver,” VW CEO Oliver Blume said in a statement.
Irvine-based Rivian also recently won a legal dispute with car dealers in Washington for the right to sell its R1 and soon R2 vehicles directly to buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Shares of Rivian were down 2.1% to $14.45 apiece during midday trading with a market cap of $18 billion (Nasdaq: RIVN). For more on the automaker, see this week’s edition of the Business Journal.
