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A grocery cart sits in an aisle at a grocery store in Washington, DC, on February 15, 2023.

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Pricing power is what’s allowing many companies — including seven of our Club holdings — to support revenue growth and enhance, or at the very least protect, profitability during an earnings season marked by a still-elevated inflationary environment.

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Wait, Rivian (RIVN) could really save the Volkswagen Golf? The next-gen EV promises to deliver

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March 11, 2025

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Wait, Rivian (RIVN) could really save the Volkswagen Golf? The next-gen EV promises to deliver

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-EV

The iconic hatch may have found its saviour. Volkswagen confirmed that the fully electric Golf is already in the works and will be one of its first EVs to feature Rivian’s (RIVN) advanced software.

Rivian tech will power up the Volkswagen Golf EV

Can Rivian help the hatch find its place as an EV? That’s what Volkswagen is betting on. The next-generation hatch, set to arrive as the ID Golf, will feature an entirely new platform and software.

In November, Volkswagen and Rivian officially launched a new EV software alliance, “Rivian and VW Group Technology.” The German auto giant plans to invest up to $5.8 billion into Rivian and the new joint venture by 2027.

The partnership will build upon Rivian’s current electrical architecture and software stack, used in the R1S SUV and R1T pickup, for its next-gen “software-defined” EVs.

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Rivian’s midsize R2 will be one of the first to feature the new platform, while Volkswagen plans to launch a series of next-gen “high volume models that are fully capable of advanced automated driving functions” built on the stack.

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-EV
Rivian R2 midsize electric SUV (Source: Rivian)

The first will be the production version of the ID.EVERY1, VW’s entry-level EV which will start at under $22,000 (20,00 euros) when it arrives in 2027.

After that, the Volkswagen will launch the electric Golf based on Rivian’s EV software stack. Volkswagen’s tech boss, Kai Grunitz, said “The ID 1 will be the very first vehicle with that architecture and will be the frontrunner on our side for the ID Golf.”

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-EV
Volkswagen ID.EVERY1 concept EV (Source: Volkswagen)

Grunitz added that starting with ID.1 “reduces the risk” because it requires less functionality than what the ID. Golf requires.

Since Rivian’s software system is much simpler with just a few ECUs compared to its current models (which run on way too many different units), VW can offer various levels of functionality.

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-EV
(Source: Rivian)

“Vehicles in lower price segments will just need one zone, while a premium vehicle might need three or four, depending on functions,” Grunitz explained.

Rivian’s software and EV architecture are “highly flexible and highly updatable,” VW’s tech boss explained, adding, “We see it already on the road with Rivian today,” with regular OTA updates adding new capabilities.

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-EV
(Source: Rivian)

This is “the next step” for Volkswagen so it can “offer new functions to customers even after they have bought their car” without even touching them.

According to Autocar, the electric Golf will also be one of the first vehicles built on its new SSP platform. With an 800V architecture, the next-gen platform will significantly improve charging times and efficiency.

Rivian-Volkswagen-Golf-electric
VW Brand CEO Thomas Shafer and VW Group CEO Oliver Blume next to the ID GTI Concept (Source: Volkswagen)

Volkswagen’s head designer, Andreas Mindt, confirmed to Autocar that the team is officially working on the ID.Golf. “The Golf is a special thing within Volkswagen, and you have to stay true to the Golf,” he said, but he was tight-lipped about the design.

The upcoming electric Volkswagen Golf is expected to arrive around 2028 and be sold alongside the current gas-powered model.

Electrek’s Take

Although the Golf has historically been one of Volkswagen’s top-selling vehicles and is still popular, it’s starting to lose ground to new, more advanced electric models in the same segment.

Volkswagen already tried to revive the Golf as an EV. Remember the e-Golf? The electric car was retired to make way for the more advanced ID.3.

With Rivian’s help, the next-gen Volkswagen Golf EV promises to deliver much more with advanced tech and software.

Meanwhile, Rivian plans to launch an even smaller and more affordable R3 crossover and sporty R3X model. Will it compete with the electric Golf? We’ll find out more soon. Check back for the latest.

What do you think? Can Rivian preserve the Golf’s legacy as an EV? Let us know in the comments.

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Microsoft is open to using natural gas to power AI data centers to keep up with demand

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March 11, 2025

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Microsoft is open to using natural gas to power AI data centers to keep up with demand

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at a company event on artificial intelligence technologies in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.

Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images

HOUSTON — Microsoft is open to deploying natural gas with carbon capture technology to power artificial intelligence data centers, the technology company’s vice president of energy told CNBC.

“That absolutely would not be off the table,” Bobby Hollis said. But the executive said Microsoft would consider natural gas with carbon capture only if the project is “commercially viable and cost competitive.”

Oil and gas companies have been developing carbon capture technology for years, but the industry has struggled to launch it at a commercial scale due to the high costs associated with such projects. The technology captures carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sites and stores them deep underground.

Microsoft has ambitious goals to address climate, aiming to match all of its electricity consumption with carbon-free energy by 2030. The tech company has procured more than 30 gigawatts of renewable power in pursuit of that goal. But the tech sector has come to the conclusion that renewables alone are not enough to power the demanding power needs of data centers.

Microsoft turned to nuclear power last year, signing a deal to support the restart of Three Mile Island through an agreement to purchase electricity from the currently shuttered plant. But it’s unlikely that the U.S. will build a significant amount of additional unclear power until the 2030s.

Data center developers increasingly see natural gas as near-term power solution despite its carbon-dioxide emissions. The Trump administration is focused on boosting natural gas production. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday that renewable power cannot replace the role of gas in producing electricity.

“We’ve always been cognizant that fossil will not disappear as fast as we all would hope,” Hollis said. “That being said, we knew natural gas is very much the near-term solve that we’re seeing, especially for AI deployments.”

Exxon Mobil and Chevron announced last December that they are entering the data center space with plans to develop natural gas plants with carbon capture technology. Chevron struck an agreement with gas turbine manufacturer GE Vernova in January in build gas plants for data centers “with the flexibility to integrate” carbon capture and storage technology.

Hollis declined to say whether Microsoft is having conversations with the oil majors. The executive said the tech company is having “discussions across the board with all of those technologies.”

President Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum in January that he will use emergency powers to expedite the construction of power plants for data centers. Trump said the data centers can use whatever fuel they want. Chevron and GE Vernova announced their plan to build gas plants for data centers days after Trump’s remarks.

“We’re just glad to see that there’s a focus on accelerating schedules to meet what we view as a pretty critical need,” Hollis said when asked about the Trump administration’s plans.

But deploying natural gas faces its own challenges. The cost of new natural gas plants has tripled and the line to build plants now extends to 2030, NextEra CEO John Ketchum said Monday. NextEra is the largest developer of renewables in the U.S. but also has gas assets.

“Renewables are ready to go right now because they’ve been up and running,” Ketchum said at the conference. “It’s cheaper and it’s available right now unless you already have a turbine on order or that’s already been permitted.”

Ketchum said nuclear is unlikely to be a power solution until 2035. NextEra is considering restarting the mothballed Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa.

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Watch Constellation Energy CEO speak live about the company’s push to restart Three Mile Island

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March 11, 2025

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Watch Constellation Energy CEO speak live about the company's push to restart Three Mile Island

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Constellation Energy CEO Joseph Dominguez will speak at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, as the company pushes to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

Constellation operates the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the U.S. The company aims to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor by 2028 through an agreement with Microsoft to purchase power from the plant.

The planned restart of Three Mile Island is the clearest demonstration yet of the tech sector’s interest in deploying nuclear to power the growing electricity consumption of its data centers.

The restart is subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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