Americans Rivian and Mercedes join forces. For a start, they will deliver electric vans and vans

Coming as a last-minute rescue, Rivian announces a partnership with Mercedes Benz aimed at manufacturing large electric vans and pickup trucks.

Best known for the RT1T model, an electric-powered alternative to the Ford F-150, Rivian was showing signs of fast approaching bankruptcy, failing to deliver the electric cars already promised, at a profit or not.

Perhaps Rivian’s expertise already gained with luxury van design fits perfectly with Mercedes-Benz’s much more commercially expressed aspirations for making cargo vans to trucks. After all, luxury can take a back seat if you can save the company by using the innovations accumulated so far to deliver affordable electric vans, possibly offsetting diminished profit margins with high production volumes.

According to the official plan, the goal is to produce two vans on common assembly lines. One would be based on the VAN.EA architecture of Mercedes-Benz Vans. The other would center around the Rivian Light Van manufacturer’s second-generation Rivian platform. The two sides will also explore “additional options for increased synergies.”

The companies plan to build the electric vehicles at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Central or Eastern Europe within the next few years. However, before the plan can be a reality, the two companies still have to overcome numerous regulatory hurdles and “matching” innovations developed on different continents.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Mercedes-Benz on this project,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “Mercedes-Benz is one of the world’s best-known and most respected automotive companies and we believe that together we will produce truly remarkable electric vans that will benefit not only our customers, but the planet.”