By coinnews 
00:00 Wassim Charara
I lead the software team at Rivian. And my team is responsible for the entire technology stack that underpins Rivian vehicles. And then the end-to-end user experience that we provide to our customers. In parallel, and then since November, I’m the co-CEO of the joint venture that we have with the VW Group, which is delivering reference platforms to Rivian to the VW brands and then eventually, our goal is to have that for other brands as well.
00:49 Brian Sozzi
Wassim, you mentioned, you know, software, software-defined vehicles, VW, right? Is that what that deal is all about? Is basically Volkswagen saying, Hey Rivian, you guys have great software. You know, we’re talking about a vehicle that they were able to update the software to make the suspension better, believe it or not. Is that what we’re talking about here when we talk about software-defined vehicles?
01:21 Wassim Charara
That’s exactly it. I mean, when you look at the technology trends in automotive technologies, like electrification, autonomy, connectivity, they are resulting in much bigger amounts of software. And customers now have very high expectations in terms of the end-to-end experience. And modern architecture require a lot of software to really power and unlock that experience.
02:21 Brian Sozzi
The R2 prototype, Wassim, is on the streets. It’s been It’s being tested. What do you love about it? Give me Give me the feedback.
02:41 Wassim Charara
I love it.
02:42 Brian Sozzi
First of all, you have seen that wrap. I mean, it’s it’s so awesome.
02:48 Wassim Charara
We have it.
02:49 Brian Sozzi
Yeah.
02:50 Wassim Charara
I think we have it. We have it here. But R2 is a program we’re extremely excited about the R2. R2 brings the essence of the Rivian brand, great design, great interior, great drive dynamics, great technology, but then into a price point that will be accessible by a much broader set of customers. So, there’s no day where we don’t get requests from customers, when can I get my R2? It’s really the culmination of a long journey in terms of building our technology, so that we can get it into a vehicle that many more customers can now access.
04:06 Brian Sozzi
So talk to me about your also the co-head, you mentioned like you mentioned of the JV between Volkswagen and Rivian. What does that entail and are we going to see that R2 technology kind of flow into VW vehicles, for instance?
04:26 Wassim Charara
Yeah, exactly. I mean, think about it as the R2 is the platform that will underpin actually all future EV products at VW. So, it’s really that modular, scalable technology stack that we will take into VW brands. And we will do it in a way where we will still allow each of the brands to express their own identity. Each brand will have their own UI, look and feel. Each brand will have their own suspension tuning, as you mentioned, but underneath, the guts of the vehicle will be optimized based on the same technology and software architecture.
05:33 Brian Sozzi
There are questions out there, Wassim, about R2 scalability. Walk me through how you’re thinking about that dynamic.
05:48 Wassim Charara
Scalability, you mean, from which standpoint?
05:53 Brian Sozzi
Well, the ability to get as many of those many of them out there as people want.
06:04 Wassim Charara
Yes. I mean, everybody is waiting for the R2. Everybody is exciting about the R2. It’s the absolute number one priority for the customer. And I think what we are really excited about is when you look at from the technology standpoint, the R2 is an evolution of the architecture that we introduced with our gen two vehicles. And there’s a ton of lessons learned that went into how we make the R2 from a technology standpoint, from engineering, from manufacturing. And 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 at the same time from a program standpoint.
07:41 Brian Sozzi
With the R2, you’re going after the Model Y. So walk me through why your product is superior, Wassim. What is setting you apart?
07:54 Wassim Charara
I mean, first of all, the the Model Y is a great product, and I think kudos to Tesla who have designed and built a fantastic product. R2, as I mentioned, brings really like everything which is beautiful about the Rivian DNA. That great design, that great interior, great storage, great drive dynamics, the Rivian drive dynamics and then all this technology content into the same price point as the Model Y.