Ford To Use Rivian's EV Architecture Following $500M Cash Injection

There’s an all-new battery-electric Ford on the way, and it’ll be built around the ‘flexible skateboard platform’ developed by US EV startup Rivian.

It’s all thanks to a new technical partnership forged between the Ford and Rivian, announced today alongside a $500 million investment in the latter by the former. Sound familiar? That might be down to Porsche snapping up 10 per cent of Rimac last year and creating a “development partnership”. As we hurtle towards a new electric car era, we can expect more deals like this between the big guns and the little guys of the industry.

Half a billion dollars might sound like a colossal amount of money, but it’s actually only a small part of Ford’s huge electric vehicle investment plan. All in, it’ll be spending $11 billion.

Ford is remaining tight-lipped on exactly what the skateboard platform will be used for, but the Blue Oval has confirmed it’s cooking up an all-electric F-150, which may well end up using the architecture. It’s worth point out that one of Rivian’s two vehicles, the R1T, is a pickup. Along with the R1S SUV, the R1T will be arriving at some point in 2020.

Speaking about the agreement between the two companies, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe (above left) said: “This strategic partnership marks another key milestone in our drive to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility.”

Ford executive chairman Bill Ford (above right), meanwhile, said: “We are excited to invest in and partner with Rivian…I have gotten to know and respect RJ, and we share a common goal to create a sustainable future for our industry through innovation.”