Volkswagen’s new electric Golf will get the Rivian treatment

By Nick Godt Published November 30, 2024

The Golf represents “the heart” of the Volkswagen brand, the automaker said at the start of 2024, as the iconic model celebrated five decades of existence.

A 50th anniversary also seems like the right occasion to fully bring the Golf into the 21st century: While we already knew that VW is reviving an electric version of the model, the German automaker just revealed the next-gen Golf will also benefit from Rivian’s cutting-edge software and electrical systems.

VW, like global automakers, is transitioning toward producing “software-defined vehicles” (SDVs) with functionalities and digital experiences that can be upgraded over time. That transition became official back in June when VW announced a joint venture with Rivian.

Meanwhile, the automaker also announced last summer it would delay the launch of a new flagship electric vehicle (EV) called Trinity, initially planned for 2026. German press reports at the time suggested the delay was to make room for none other than the next-gen electric Golf.

And now that VW’s venture with Rivian has officially kicked off earlier this month, all the pieces are coming together.

“We decided on how to do the software-defined vehicle,” VW CEO Thomas Schafer said during a media roundtable. “It will happen with the joint venture, where we put the new electric-electronics architecture together. But we have also decided that we want to start this journey with a more iconic product. So we’ll start with the Golf.”

The next-gen electric Golf is now expected for 2029, followed by Trinity in the following years.

The Volkswagen-Rivian venture first plans to use Rivian’s electrical architecture and software technology stack to enable the launch of Rivian’s R2 midsize SUV in the first half of 2026 and support the launch of Volkswagen models by 2027.