EVwire newsletter #162: Would VW Group acquire Rivian? EV Industry news roundup

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This is new: our EVwire’s run rate is now consistently at 4 to 5 new EV articles every day on our website (yes, our EVwire.com site), so if you’re looking to get more from us on a daily basis… make it a habit to drop by! 🙂

Nearly all of the links in this newsletter are to our own deeper articles on the topics, so you’ll be directed to said articles. And we’re ramping up!

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Cox Automotive's EV Sales Report for Q1 2026 showed that the US saw 216,399 EVs sold during the quarter, a 27% YoY drop from last year's 296,589 units.

Tesla led the U.S. EV market, with the Tesla Model Y delivering 78,591 units and the Tesla Model 3 reaching 31,672 units. These two vehicles accounted for more than half (51%) of all EV sales in the country in the first quarter. (link) I’ve compiled the whole Q1 2026 EV sales in the US per model into one table for you here:

Yes, the rise of Toyota bZ was a surprise for me, too.

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I have also, together with Eleport, put together a comprehensive report on the Q1 EV sales in Europe per country: (link).

The pan-European (EU+EFTA+UK) EV market share is now 20.6%. In other words, more than every 5th car sold in Europe is currently fully electric!

In case you’ve missed it, Denmark has shown an even steeper EV adoption curve than Norway these days, it just started off later. Significantly, this is also very much driven by the private not business market, as the uptake in private individual sales is even higher than this average.

Finland & Sweden have also pushed past 40%, very significant here.

In the first three months of 2026, 723 704 new battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered across Europe. That marks a 26,2% growth compared to Q1 2025, when 573 439 EVs were sold across the same 31 markets.

Out of the 31 countries we looked at, only four have seen a decline early this year.

Croatia showed a massive growth, although it also has a very small base to start from. Slovenia showed a strong +78% and, notably, Poland is also going strong +73% after a massive 2025.

The other two notable countries I’d call out here are France (+50%) and Spain (+42%), both among the largest car markets in Europe showing strong growth.

🇨🇦 Canada's International Trade Minister met with BYD, XPeng, and GAC in Guangzhou to discuss possible EV market entry into Canada under a new import quota system.

The policy allows up to 49,000 Chinese EVs annually to enter Canada at a reduced 6.1% tariff, down from 100%. The visit follows a January trade agreement between Canada and China tied to broader tariff reductions. (link)

Meanwhile, Tesla is already taking advantage of its existing footprint in Canada and has started directing Giga Shanghai-made Model 3s into the country… which led to the cheapest Model 3 ever in all of North America by Tesla as the Model 3 RWD in Canada now starts at record-low CA$39,490 (US$29,000).

Yes, Tesla did pass on the savings to the customer 🤷‍♂

I, for one, am quite excited to see what effect the Chinese EVs will have on the Canadian market. The Q1 2026 stats aren’t available yet, but 2025 saw 115,049 new BEVs hit the road, making up 6.2% of all car sales. That was a strong down year compared to 2024, which had 202,333 BEVs sold and 10.9% market share.

🇬🇧 The United Kingdom will soon allow households without driveways to install pavement charging gullies without planning permission under new legislation expected this summer.

Home charging can cost as little as 8p/kWh, compared to around 71p/kWh for public DC charging on average, making the shift financially significant. (link)

🇺🇸 Einride and Amazon are deploying 75 electric heavy-duty trucks across five U.S. locations to support Amazon's freight network. The trucks are expected to deliver up to 3 million electric miles annually and will be managed using Einride's Saga AI software. (link)

🇦🇺 The emergency response fleet of the City of Melville in Western Australia, MelSafe, is now made up of Tesla Model Ys.

The city reports around AU$70,000 (US$50,000) in annual savings from fuel and maintenance, while also reducing emissions. The vehicles are deployed 24/7 on 12-hour rotations, supporting community safety, ranger services, and emergency response operations. (link)

🌍 Minik Dam Frank, Founder and Adventure Director of Next Adventure, recently shared that he has spent 200 days living in a Tesla Model Y and driving 20,000 km (12.4k miles) across the Sahara. The expedition, featured on Denmark's Go' Morgen Danmark, is now evolving into a planned global around-the-world journey using solar-supported charging for off-grid mobility. (link)

… now, all I’ll do is show you one of the possible paths why that might happen. No real discussion of it in the industry. Yet?

Let’s start with news by Scout Motors that prompted this thought for me:

Scout Motors said construction of its $2 billion Production Center in Blythewood, South Carolina continues to advance, with major progress across the site's manufacturing facilities and supplier buildings. The Production Center is expected to produce 200,000 vehicles annually at capacity and support more than 4,000 permanent jobs.

Scout is also progressing on its Supplier Park, which is part of an additional $300 million investment expected to support around 1,000 supplier jobs. The park is designed to serve as a central hub for parts, batteries, and accessories.

This reminded me: I don’t think I showed you this before, but when I visited the IAA in Munich late last year, they were showing off Scout pickups in the VW Group stage announcements (as Scout is a VW Group brand).

They brought it to Europe, cool, but there are no plans to sell it here anytime soon.

However, I did manage to snap a picture of someone very familiar in the Scout truck: yes, that’s Wassym Bensaid, the Chief Software Officer of Rivian.

Wassym is also the CO-CEO & CTO of RV Tech, the joint venture of Rivian & Volkswagen, which is supposed to help the latter catch up with the software race.

A natural ‘one big family’ type of thing. Except for the actual vehicle they sit in…

What makes all this so curious is the quite obvious similarities of Rivian and Scout, which were questioned once Scout relaunched its brand as fully electric.

Back then, obviously, the two sides said they were different vehicles and had no significant overlap.

This made me even more suspicious.
I’ll admit I had my fun and made this (viral) meme back then:

Now, what most people don’t know is just how significant the VW Group →← Rivian ties have become.

As of May 2026, Volkswagen Group is Rivian's largest shareholder, with VW Group owning a 15.9% stake in Rivian today.

I believe there is something bound to happen here once Scout gets closer to being ready with its factory. Let’s look at it this way:

Rivian’s current market cap is $17,75B, of which $2.8B is technically VW Group’s already. And there’s more incoming:

Roughly $2.5B is on the way from VW Group, tied to upcoming operational and technical milestones, including a $1 billion loan facility expected to be available to Rivian in October 2026. If that $1.5B translates to equity directly, it’d be another… 8.4% towards VW. I’ll need to look into the specifics, but gives you an idea of the significance.

And then, a final payment of approximately $460M is scheduled for the first production of a saleable VW vehicle using the JV's technology, expected in 2027 or early 2028.

And besides the $5.8 billion investment total, VW is also responsible for 75% of the running costs of the joint venture entity (RV Tech) through 2028.

So,

VW is increasingly invested in Rivian, plus is covering the Rivian-VW joint venture costs at 75%, plus has obvious market clash issues on Scout vs Rivian vehicles.

Would it not make sense for VW Group to just acquire Rivian?

As of the end of 2026, net liquidity in the VW Group’s Automotive Division rose to over €34 billion ($36+ billion). Market cap at around $51.86 billion as of today. Of course, taking Rivian private right before R2 launch here would demand a premium, but… there seems to be room?

On the more fun side — I do still believe that Rivian has created a better e-golf than Volkswagen ever did. Looks like I even captioned all this as a joke two years ago when R3X was announced, very fittingly to our story:

I’m not a guy to make many predictions, nor am I that well-versed in the M&A games, so I’ll leave it at this.

But I am curious about what you think.

So I will let you predict, and also leave me your comments on it. Perhaps I can add them to next week’s newsletter.

The first deliveries of Rivian R2, its new mid-sized SUV, should be made any day now, as the “saleable” production started on April 22 at the Normal plant.

We also reported that Rivian is already adding a night shift to its R2 production line.

Rivian has already announced it is increasing planned production capacity at its Georgia plant to 300,000 vehicles annually, a 50% increase from its original 200,000-unit target. The update is aimed at lowering cost per unit and supporting future expansion as Rivian scales its next-generation R2 platform.

The project is backed by an updated U.S. Department of Energy loan of up to $4.5 billion, with Rivian expecting to begin drawing funds in early 2027. Construction is set to begin in 2026, with vehicle production targeted for late 2028. (link)

Rivian reported Q1 2026 consolidated revenue of $1.38 billion, up 11% year-over-year, and generated $119 million in gross profit, maintaining a 9% gross margin for the quarter.

Net loss improved to $(416) million from $(541) million a year earlier, supported by a $506 million gain tied to a capital raise and the deconsolidation of Mind Robotics.

Lucid released a trifecta of major updates, announcing a $1.05 billion capital raise, a leadership change, and an expanded robotaxi partnership with Uber and an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

The funding includes a $300 million public stock offering, a new $200 million investment from Uber (bringing its total to $500 million), and $550 million in convertible preferred stock from Ayar Third Investment Company. (link)

Lucid Group reported Q1 2026 revenue of $282.5 million, missing expectations, alongside a net loss of approximately $1 billion and a loss per share of -$3.46 vs. -$2.64 expected. The company produced 5,500 vehicles and delivered 3,093 units during the first quarter.

Lucid also confirmed that Silvio Napoli will join as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board. Interim Chief Executive Marc Winterhoff will be transitioning to Chief Operating Officer.

Slate Auto raised $650 million in a Series C round led by TWG Global to fund the production of its affordable, customizable vehicle platform, as well as the development of its factory in Indiana.

The company has secured over 160,000 reservations and targets first deliveries in late 2026. Slate maintained that its upcoming Slate Truck will be priced in the mid-$20,000 range, with preorders opening in June 2026 and first deliveries starting late 2026. (link)

Tesla Semi is coming. And there’s a lot of buzz around it.

Tesla has now produced the first Tesla Semi from its high-volume production line in Nevada. The factory, once ramped, should produce 50,000 of these Beasts per year.

The ACT Expo last week, the largest gathering of fleet players in the US, made it clear: everyone is waiting for Semi to hit the market (some excitedly and some, of course, also anxiously so).

Watch tip; Out of Spec just dropped a 29-minute video on the Semi (video).

Among other things, we reported about the Semi on:

But… where do you charge ‘em?

In addition to the Megacharging network (most of which currently announced with Pilot J at their truck stops),

Tesla has launched its Semi Charging for Business program, offering Megacharger and Basecharger systems for fleet operators.

Just like with the Supercharging for Business program, Tesla provides design support, optional installation, and ongoing network services, including monitoring, pricing controls, maintenance, and driver support through its software platform. (link)

Max de Zegher explains:

Alongside the Megacharger, Tesla has introduced its 125 kW Basecharger, a lower-cost charging solution designed for overnight and long-dwell charging of Tesla Semi fleets.

Positioned as "home charging" for heavy-duty vehicles, the Basecharger features a fully integrated design that removes the need for a separate AC-to-DC cabinet. This simplifies installation and reduces costs. (link)

Both systems support MCS 3.2, open communication protocols including ISO15118-2 and OCPI, and receive over-the-air updates.

Cost structures scale with deployment:

Megacharger: ~$179,000 hardware + $9,000 services/shipping = $188,000 total
Basecharger: $31,000 hardware + $9,000 services/shipping = $40,000 total

Bulk deployments reach up to 100 posts (~$9.4M) for Megachargers or 100 Basechargers (~$2M).

One last thing on the Semi:

Tesla Semi's secret sauce that will make it a double blow to diesel truck fuel costs and emissions:

Their new 25kW Electric Power Take-Off system (ePTO).

In simple terms, an integrated ePTO allows refrigerated trailers (and other equipment) to draw power from the main Tesla Semi battery. No more separate diesel-powered generator systems to keep the trailer cold. And zero noise. (link)

True story from my father-in-law:

as a long-distance trucker himself, he swears that the loud refrigerated trailers choose the overnight parking spot right next to him, on purpose, when he wants to sleep in a truck stop... even if the rest of the truck stop is all empty.

I bet he'd love it for this new version to take off (pun intended).

IONITY has served a counter-pun, politely but not at all subtly, to Tesla's recent Wolfsburg Supercharger pun with new spray-painted pavement signage reading:

"Y settle for less?" (link)

Epic Charging has acquired Bluedot Technologies, adding a platform that provides access to more than 80% of U.S. public EV charging networks. The deal was completed May 1, and it includes Bluedot's technology, intellectual property, customer contracts, and team. Bluedot will continue operating as a standalone brand under Epic. (link)

Genoa Golf Club in Genoa, Nevada, has launched one of the first privately owned Tesla Supercharger sites in the western US — and it's a destination all on its own, as Nevada's oldest settlement, founded in 1851. The 8-stall site was developed in partnership with Tesla Energy, Trout Electric and local stakeholders (link).

Powerup EV Solutions announced that it has completed the first privately owned Tesla Supercharger site in New York, delivered turnkey for EVIO Charging — ribbon-cutting event on May 20th (link).

ChargedEV Hubs emerges from stealth as an AI-first CPO, launching an 8-stall third-party Supercharger site in Georgia, with hundreds of stalls in development.

Our EVwire article with the why, where and how: (link).

But also, a quick rant on this by yours truly:

AI has been embedded in a lot of charging companies over the past few years and has moved from a buzzword to actual operations. For a good reason.

But here, I believe we're seeing for the first time how a new CPO is built up AI-first (!). This new way of operations to compete with the giants is also enabled by Tesla, which has created a turnkey launch opportunity with their Supercharging for Business program.

“AI is core to how we operate. From site selection and underwriting to project management workflows, asset management, and optimization, we're exploring the intersection of AI and InfraTech with traditional infrastructure execution to run lean and scale fast. It's how a focused team can compete head-to-head with operators orders of magnitude our size."
— Jeremy Watrous, founder of ChargedEV Hubs, to EVwire