Mercedes-Benz and Rivian said Thursday they are planning a joint venture to fabricate enormous, electric commercial vans for the two brands.
The organizations intend to make two distinct EV vans – one for every automaker – on a shared assembly line, they said. The thought is to diminish costs for the two organizations by sharing investments, technology and suppliers.
They intend to construct a new EV-only production facility at a current Mercedes-Benz factory site in Central or Eastern Europe, with production beginning in “a few years,” the two organizations said in a statement.
“Mercedes‑Benz Vans has gained broad experience in producing and launching eVans since 2010. Now we are accelerating the transformation to a fully electric product portfolio,” said Mathias Geisen, head of Mercedes’ commercial van unit. “We are sharing investments and technology [with Rivian] because we also share the same strategic ambition: accelerating the electrification of the van market with sustainable and superior products for our customers.”
While Mercedes-Benz has been building commercial vehicles for a long time, and electric vans for over 10 years, Rivian is a newbie to the portion. The California-based EV startup started producing EV conveyance vans for Amazon
recently, only a couple of months after it began creation of its own upscale electric pickups and SUVs in its Illinois manufacturing plant.
Albeit the vans Mercedes and Rivian will at last form will probably be comparative, they’ll be various plans: Mercedes’ will be founded on its impending new EV van engineering, set to make a big appearance in 2025; Rivian’s on the next-generation version of the light van platform it produced for Amazon.
