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VW's production ID.4 sports a subtle design in 'leaked' photos
VW's ID.4 electric crossover has surfaced undisguised in China, and you almost wouldn't know it was an EV.
Volkswagen will start delivering ID.3 EVs to Europe in September
Volkswagen's ID.3 EV finally has an official release date. Consumers in most European countries will be able to order the car starting on June 17th.
VW’s e-BULLI concept shows how your classic van can become an EV
Recently, we've seen Volkswagen experiment with combining its old-school aesthetic and modern tech. Last summer, it showed off its Type 20 electric concept -- a 1962 Microbus crammed with tech and an electric motor instead of an engine. Thanks to a partnership with VW and eClassics, it might soon be easier to get your hands on your own vintage Volkswagen-turned EV. This week, VW unveiled its e-BULLI concept and announced that eClassics will convert T1 vehicles, like the classic VW camper vans, into e-BULLI-style EVs.
VW is reportedly struggling with the ID.3's software
Volkswagen's ID.3 rollout might have hit a snag. Germany's Manager Magazin sources claim the EV's underlying software has been rushed and rife with bugs, including dropouts and other issues. Test drivers are supposedly finding up to 300 errors per day. The magazine even claims that the software problems are dire enough that they could lead VW to miss its summer 2020 launch window.
After Math: Driving into a new decade
For the last After Math of both the year and the decade, we're talking cars and trucks!
VW's prototype charging robot can find your EV in the parking garage
Tesla isn't the only car maker with grand visions of EV charging robots. Volkswagen has created a prototype charging robot that would navigate to your car in the parking garage, saving you the trouble of hunting for a coveted (and likely rare) EV charging spot. The autonomous helper would hitch itself to a "battery wagon" at a base station and deliver a combined 50kW to your EV on request, whether it's through an app or a smart grid. While that won't be enough to fully recharge most EVs, it should give you plenty of range for your ride home.
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.
VW will roll out self-driving electric shuttles in Qatar's capital
If you visit Qatar in the next few years, you might find yourself riding in a driverless vehicle. Volkswagen and Qatar have struck a deal that will bring self-driving electric vehicles to the public transportation network in the capital city of Doha before the end of 2022. A total of 35 autonomous ID Buzz vans will carry up to four people each on semi-fixed routes in the Westbay area, while Scania buses will handle larger groups. VW's MOIA and Audi's AID will handle the software needed to run the service.
Canada charges Volkswagen over its diesel emissions scandal
Volkswagen's "dieselgate" woes continue as Canada has accused the automaker of importing 128,000 vehicles that contravene its environmental laws, according to Reuters. The nation charged VW with 60 counts of violating the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and two counts of providing misleading information. A VW spokesperson said that it's cooperating fully with the ECCC (Environment and Climate Change Canada).
VW's factory race teams will exclusively drive electric cars
Volkswagen may have a long way to go before its road-going cars are all-electric, but its racing division doesn't have to wait that long. The German brand has revealed that its motorsport group will drop "factory-backed commitments" to race cars with combustion engines -- it's either electric or nothing. Customer sports will continue, but VW is scaling back there as well. While you'll still see VW produce the Polo GTI R5 for customer teams, production for the track-ready Golf GTI TCR will end once 2019 is over.
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.
VW's self-driving car group will have offices in Silicon Valley and China
Volkswagen hasn't been as active or vocal about autonomous driving as some of its competitors. The company has focused much of its recent attention on electric vehicle offerings, but that seems to be changing. Today, VW announced the creation of an autonomous driving subsidiary called Volkswagen Autonomy, or VWAT. The new company already has offices in Munich and Wolfsburg, Germany, but will expand to Silicon Valley and China in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
VW's Electrify America starts selling its first home EV charger
Electrify America isn't focused solely on public charging stations. The VW outfit is now offering its first home unit, the simply titled Electric Vehicle Home Charger, on Amazon. The $499 box provides Level 2 charging at up to 7.6kW for "all" EVs sold in North America, or about 25 miles per hour depending on the car. That's not going to make you skip Electrify's own 150kW or 350kW chargers. It should, however, ensure that your car is topped up before you leave for work in the morning.
Volkswagen's CEO and chairman face Dieselgate charges in Germany
VW's current leadership can't escape the fallout from the Dieselgate scandal. Prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig have unveiled plans to file stock manipulation charges against existing CEO Herbert Diess, Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch and former chief exec Martin Winterkorn. They allegedly delayed reporting the emissions cheating with knowledge that it would have a tangible effect on shares. The leaders were pursuing a settlement with US officials "without disclosing all relevant information," according to the prosecutors.
VW's electric ID.R racer smashed a Nürburgring efficiency record
VW's ID.R wasn't just running laps around the Nürburgring in June to set electric performance records. The automaker has confirmed that the EV also set an efficiency record while blasting through the Nordschliefe, using 24.7kWh to complete a lap in 6 minutes and 5.34 seconds. The car was not only faster around the circuit than a Porsche 911 GT3, according to VW, but used a quarter of the energy. While that's not a figure you'd brag about to your fellow car enthusiasts, it could make a compelling case for EV racing going forward.
VW inadvertently offers a peek at the interior of its ID.3 EV
So much for VW keeping a tight lid on the ID.3's finished design. Auto Conspiracy and others have obtained a promo video for the electric hatchback's interior, showing an appropriately very connected machine. The early look suggests the ID.3 will use a slightly more Teutonic variant of the cabin from Seat's el-Born concept, with an all-screen instrument cluster, a likely 10-inch center touchscreen and a twistable shifter placed on the dash. However, the biggest addition may be what you can't see: modern voice control.
Ford confirms it will build a car using VW's EV architecture
What was once rumored is now official: Ford is going to use VW's electric car platform, called MEB, for some of its own battery-powered vehicles. The announcement builds on the "global alliance" that the pair announced back in January. Ford says it will use VW's MEB to build "at least one high-volume fully electric vehicle" in Europe "starting in 2023." The MEB framework is already being used in a variety of yet-to-be-released EVs by Volkswagen and its subsidiary brands. Ford is the first external company beyond e.GO Mobile AG, a German EV startup, to use MEB, however.
Watch VW's electric race car smash a 20-year-old Goodwood record (updated)
VW clearly wasn't satisfied with setting the electric car record for the hill climb at 2018's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The automaker's ID.R racer (driven by Romain Dumas) returned to this year's festival in grand style, setting a hill climb time of 41.18 39.9 seconds -- fast enough to break an overall hill climb record that had been set 20 years ago by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren MP4/13 Formula 1 car. That was no mean feat given its lower power (500kW versus an equivalent 574kW). You can see the achievement below.
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.
Walmart has more than 120 ultra-fast EV charging stations in 34 states
Walmart has come a long way since it unveiled plans to add Electrify America chargers to its stores. The big-box retailer now has over 120 of the VW-backed fast EV charging stations across its stores, giving drivers in 34 states a way to top up while they're shopping. There are plans to continue expanding, too. Neither partner said how many more stations were coming, but Reuters sources claimed that 180 more stations were coming before the end of 2019.
