Rivian and VW JV's First Demo Vehicles -- Audi Q6 E-Tron

[kanundrum]

From IG (can insert source if they want me to) not sure if it was supposed to be shared...

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[lefkonj]

Didn't they say in the announcement that a small platform VW was the first part of the JV. The Q6 has been in development for a while would be shocking if that had the Rivian tech in but you never know.

 

[citizen]

Didn't they say in the announcement that a small platform VW was the first part of the JV. The Q6 has been in development for a while would be shocking if that had the Rivian tech in but you never know.

I think they are possibly just test mules retrofitted with the Rivian electronics package. Not production vehicles.

 

[Cascadian]

They were used only to prove the concept of the technology in a VW product. It was a milestone required to advance the JV.

 

[swflor]

They were used only to prove the concept of the technology in a VW product. It was a milestone required to advance the JV.

correct. Recent article said Rivian tore down the Q6 and retro fitted computers and software and made a fully drivable vehicle in 3 months. Pretty damn impressive.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I think they are possibly just test mules retrofitted with the Rivian electronics package. Not production vehicles.

Which makes sense with the Q6 e-tron looking to be released next year. They probably had the test vehicles available with them likely being past that phase of development.

What's kind of interesting is that the Q6 e-tron is 800v system architecture. So is the Rivian electrical architecture relatively easy to get to 800v? If so, should we expect the rest of the vehicles associated with the JV, including the R2 and R3, going to be 800v?

 

[Bullwinkle]

Which makes sense with the Q6 e-tron looking to be released next year. They probably had the test vehicles available with them likely being past that phase of development.

What's kind of interesting is that the Q6 e-tron is 800v system architecture. So is the Rivian electrical architecture relatively easy to get to 800v? If so, should we expect the rest of the vehicles associated with the JV, including the R2 and R3, going to be 800v?

Interesting observation/question. Technology can flow both ways.

 

[Steve A.]

What's kind of interesting is that the Q6 e-tron is 800v system architecture. So is the Rivian electrical architecture relatively easy to get to 800v? If so, should we expect the rest of the vehicles associated with the JV, including the R2 and R3, going to be 800v?

Well, Scout Traveler and Terra are 800V, so apparently not a problem.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

I just realized in horror that the new joint venture might mean my Scouts might end up being as buggy as my Rivians. That's not... great. Fortunately the ID.4 is already very buggy, perhaps the situation can only improve.

 

[electruck]

What's kind of interesting is that the Q6 e-tron is 800v system architecture. So is the Rivian electrical architecture relatively easy to get to 800v? If so, should we expect the rest of the vehicles associated with the JV, including the R2 and R3, going to be 800v?

What you are overlooking is that the low-voltage and high-voltage systems are completely separate. The electronics being developed by the JV are not the high-voltage powertrain components (battery, motors, inverters) and the infotainment computers, body controllers, etc are most certainly not high-voltage components. They're most commonly 12V. So having a common low-voltage system implies absolutely nothing about the high-voltage system, it will work equally well with 400V or 800V powertrains.

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