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VW teases a smaller, more affordable EV in a holiday card
Once again, Volkswagen is using a Christmas card to tease a new vehicle. The automaker sent the card, which appears to show a smaller entry-level ID, to journalists this week, Autocar reports. The sketch is purposefully vague, but it could offer a glimpse of the more affordable electric car VW is working on.
Volkswagen begins pre-production of its ID.3 EV in China
Just days after Volkswagen showed off the first all-electric ID.3 produced at its Zwickau plant in Germany, the company announced that it has entered pre-production in China, too. Like the Zwickau factory, the new plant in Anti, Shanghai, will produce all-electric vehicles on Volkswagen's MEB platform, a modular design that's built for battery packs of varying sizes.
Volkswagen’s attempt at a bold, cleaner future starts with the ID.3
With much pomp and circumstance, the first all-electric ID.3 produced at Volkswagen's Zwickau plant rolled down a hall of flashing lights and pulsating music. A badge on the fender signifies it's one of the "1st" of a 35,000 run of vehicles pre-ordered by early adopters. The ID.3 is more than a new vehicle, it's a sea change at one of the largest automakers in the world.
Volkswagen takes the wraps off the production-ready ID.3 EV
After announcing the MEB modular electric-car platform at CES in 2016 on the heels of Dieselgate, the automaker went on a tear announcing a microbus, dune buggy, crossovers and other vehicle types that would run on electrons instead of gasoline. Finally, we're seeing the first production vehicle that'll be part of the automaker's future.
VW will reportedly share its electric car platform with Ford
VW and Ford appear close to formalizing their partnership on EVs and self-driving cars. Reuters sources claim the two have forged an "outline agreement" that will see them ally on more than just commercial vehicles. Most notably, VW would share its EV-oriented MEB platform with Ford. While VW had previously talked about opening MEB to competitors, it hadn't mentioned Ford by name -- this suggests that your future Ford could share the same basic underpinnings as something like the ID Crozz.
VW may open its electric car platform to competitors
Volkswagen's bid to widen the reach of its electric car platform might extend well beyond Ford trucks and vans. Company strategy head Michael Jost told Der Tagesspiegel in an interview that the company wanted to make its MEB platform a standard outside of VW Group cars. It was already in "advanced discussions" with some competitors, he added. While he didn't name those brands, Ford is already exploring further team-ups.
Volkswagen reportedly has $23,000 Tesla competitor in the works
Volkswagen, the German automaker that cheated diesel emissions tests, is aiming to release an all-electric car for $23,000 -- undercutting the Tesla Model 3 by nearly $12,000 -- sources have told Reuters. VW will convert three of its factories in Germany to produce the "MEB entry," with a production target of 200,000 vehicles. The MEB (modular electric drive matrix) platform is being used to develop VW's I.D. family of electric vehicles. And the company has high hopes for the new platform, with a goal of selling 10 million vehicles by the end of its "first wave." The I.D. Aero, a mid-size sedan, will also see a production target of 100,000 vehicles. A release date for the MEB entry was not disclosed, but the first I.D. vehicle should land in 2020. The German automaker will discuss all of this in a supervisory board meeting on November 16th.
VW starts work on its first large-scale EV factory
VW's grandiose electric car plans just became more tangible. The automaker has started building its first group-wide, large-scale EV production factory in Anting, about 19 miles west of Shanghai. When it's up and running in 2020, the plant will build nothing but all-electric vehicles based on the company's MEB (Modular Electric Drive Kit) platform as well as the battery systems needed to power those vehicles. The first EV to roll off the line will be a VW-badged SUV (not necessarily the I.D. Crozz).
VW hopes to sell 10 million electric cars based on its new platform
Volkswagen has grand expectations for the platform underpinning its first purpose-built electric cars. The VW Auto Group plans to sell 10 million EVs based on its modular electric drive matrix (MEB) across all its brands during the "first wave." It hopes to have sold 150,000 electric cars in total by 2020, 100,000 of which will be 100,000 I.D. models produced in Germany.
VW considers making an electric Beetle
VW's nostalgia-driven EVs might not be limited to the ID Buzz. VW chairman Herbert Diess told Autocar that his company is seriously considering development of an electric Beetle. And it's not just because EVs are considered the future of transportation, either. Diess noted that a Beetle EV would, paradoxically, be "much closer to history" -- as the company's new electric platform (MEB) is very flexible, it could return to the rear-wheel drive of the original model. That theoretically raises the possibility of reviving the original's front storage space, too.
