Photo: Volkswagen
By now there should have been a great number of electric ID.3s coming out of Volkswagen’s European plants, ready to ship globally, but because of the closures ordered in response to the ongoing health crisis, that didn’t happen.
More than a month after the German carmaker ordered the closure of its global plants, starting with the ones in Europe, a restart program was announced earlier this week. As of Thursday, April 23, the facility in Zwickau has come back online, and more will follow in the coming days.
Zwickau is the place where Volkswagen is assembling ID.3s. Even if the lines have been restarted the plant will be kept running at a much slower pace for a while, though. In the initial phase, just 50 ID.3s will be made each day, which is about one third of the capacity before the closure. It’s unclear yet how long this pace would be maintained.
“We have reached agreement with the company on new measures to protect employees. One thing is clear: We will not be taking any risks, the health of employees has absolute priority – even if it means producing fewer cars,” said in a statement Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Sachsen.
Volkswagen factory restart plan calls for another facility, this time in Bratislava, to begin operations this week as well, followed by the end of the month facilities in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Russia, South Africa, North- and South America.
The ID.3 was first shown in the fall of 2019 as the first RWD electric car for the masses produced by an established carmaker. It is also among the few to be offered with more than two battery option, as there are three different variants. The car’s range depending on battery starts at 330 km (205 miles) and can to to as much as 550 km (340 miles).
Zwickau is the place where Volkswagen is assembling ID.3s. Even if the lines have been restarted the plant will be kept running at a much slower pace for a while, though. In the initial phase, just 50 ID.3s will be made each day, which is about one third of the capacity before the closure. It’s unclear yet how long this pace would be maintained.
“We have reached agreement with the company on new measures to protect employees. One thing is clear: We will not be taking any risks, the health of employees has absolute priority – even if it means producing fewer cars,” said in a statement Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Sachsen.
Volkswagen factory restart plan calls for another facility, this time in Bratislava, to begin operations this week as well, followed by the end of the month facilities in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Russia, South Africa, North- and South America.
The ID.3 was first shown in the fall of 2019 as the first RWD electric car for the masses produced by an established carmaker. It is also among the few to be offered with more than two battery option, as there are three different variants. The car’s range depending on battery starts at 330 km (205 miles) and can to to as much as 550 km (340 miles).
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