By Abhirup Roy and Akash Sriram
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Rivian has acquired Swedish EV route planning app maker Iternio to add its technology to its electric pickups and sport utility vehicles, as well use its data to better expand its own charging network, its CEO told Reuters on Wednesday.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe did not disclose the value of the deal but said it was closed in the first quarter.
This comes after Reuters reported first on Tuesday on Rivian's plan to adopt Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s charging standard for its vehicles as well as its own small fast-charging network, which will give customers access to the biggest U.S. charging network and Rivian a significant revenue stream from Tesla users.
Iternio's app - called A Better Routeplanner (ABRP) and popular with EV owners in North America and Europe - provides route calculation services that take into account weather conditions, charging stops, vehicle weight and other factors.
Scaringe said Rivian would invest in improving and growing ABRP as a stand-alone app for users of other EVs and integrate Iternio's technology into its mobile app and in-vehicle navigation system.
"The data that comes off of having a very active user base allows us to be very intentional as to how we build out a charging infrastructure," Scaringe said, adding that data on locations that lack chargers or have chargers with poor performance would be particularly beneficial.
Iternio was founded in 2018 and operates two lines of business: the ABRP app, which is the consumer-facing side, and a back end where it provides routing data services for other entities.
"Solving broad-scale adoption of electrification requires a level of collaboration, particularly on charging, that's not typical for automotive," Scaringe said, referring to the deals with market leader Tesla and Iternio.