- VW is investing $5.8 billion into a partnership with Rivian to use its electric architecture.
- Underpinning the all-electric Golf will be the group’s flexible SSP platform with 800-volt tech.
- The new model will be built in Germany, ICE Golf production will be shifted to Mexico.
We’re just a few years away from the next-generation VW Golf, and it’s been confirmed that it will use the trick software architecture VW is co-developing with Rivian. The new Golf is expected to launch in 2029 and as always, it will be a very important model for the brand, offered exclusively as an EV and sold alongside the current Mk8 Golf.
The VW Group has committed $5.8 billion to its partnership with Rivian, co-developing a new electric architecture to be used by future models from both automakers. The new architecture will consolidate the complexity of current VW systems and dramatically reduce the number of control units needed. It also uses a zonal architecture, providing VW with added flexibility.
Read: Rivian And VW Are Teaming Up To Reinvent The New Electric Golf Mk9
The first VW model to use the new architecture will be the electric ID.1, and the Mk9 Golf will follow, potentially dubbed the ID. Golf. According to VW technical chief Kai Grünitz, starting with the ID.1 “reduces the risk for the Golf,” because the brand’s base EV will have less functionality than the Golf, allowing VW to iron out any kinks. Over-the-air updates will serve as an important feature of the architecture.
“The benefit of the zonal architecture is that I can put one, two or three zones in a vehicle,” Grünitz told Autocar. “Vehicles in lower price segments will just need one zone, while a premium vehicle might need three or four, depending on functions. I can use a dedicated system-on-chip [SoC] family for each model. So for the ID 1, I can use an SoC with a lower price point and complexity, but if I take the same architecture over to the Golf, I can use a different SoC that costs more money but gives additional functions. But it’s still the same software.”
Underpinning the next-generation VW Golf will be the group’s flexible SSP platform with an 800-volt architecture. It will also use a new cell-to-pack battery design.
VW will build the new Golf at its factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, while moving production of the current Mk8 Golf away from its homeland and to a plant in Puebla, Mexico.
