Photo: Volkswagen
Almost all car manufacturers were heavily reliant on their diesel models for the European market, but thanks to the emissions scandal, only Volkswagen now needs to make a lot of noise about its efforts to turn electric, while all the others can do it in a much more discreet manner.
Indeed, the German company has been making a series of bold statements, announcing tens of battery-powered models by 2025 with the first one (excluding the e-Golf and e-Up) coming as soon as next year. But having a convenience electric vehicle that sells in very low numbers isn't going to cut it for Volkswagen, so the carmaker needs to have the numbers as well.
Right now, the three electric models confirmed by Volkswagen are the I.D. hatchback, the I.D. Crozz crossover, and the I.D. Buzz minivan. At least two more are expected to be revealed soon - according to a leaked presentation slide dating from last June - called I.D. AEROe and I.D. Lounge. There is no other information available on the two, but at least the name of the latter suggests it might be the flagship of VW's electric range.
However, as we've said, it's not just the number of vehicles that's important, but also the rate at which they're coming out of the gates of VW's plants. According to a new report from German publication Sächsische Zeitung, that's not going to be a problem.
The website says the company's plant in Zwickau, which is currently transforming to become a veritable e-mobility hub for Volkswagen is going to have a production capability of 1,500 units per day by the end of 2020. A quick use of our computer's built-in calculator tells us that's nearly 550,000 units a year, assuming they keep it running during all seven days of the week.
While that's impressive for one factory alone, it's still short of VW's promise of producing millions of EVs each year in the near future, which means other plants are going to have to chip in as well. Luckily for the German carmaker, it's not exactly short on those, especially since a large part of its EV production is going to be located in China.
The first EV to come out of Zwickau will be the I.D. hatchback, which is scheduled to enter production in late 2019. Until then, the plant is going to continue building ICE cars while undergoing all the needed modifications to be ready to make the switch when the time comes.
Right now, the three electric models confirmed by Volkswagen are the I.D. hatchback, the I.D. Crozz crossover, and the I.D. Buzz minivan. At least two more are expected to be revealed soon - according to a leaked presentation slide dating from last June - called I.D. AEROe and I.D. Lounge. There is no other information available on the two, but at least the name of the latter suggests it might be the flagship of VW's electric range.
However, as we've said, it's not just the number of vehicles that's important, but also the rate at which they're coming out of the gates of VW's plants. According to a new report from German publication Sächsische Zeitung, that's not going to be a problem.
The website says the company's plant in Zwickau, which is currently transforming to become a veritable e-mobility hub for Volkswagen is going to have a production capability of 1,500 units per day by the end of 2020. A quick use of our computer's built-in calculator tells us that's nearly 550,000 units a year, assuming they keep it running during all seven days of the week.
While that's impressive for one factory alone, it's still short of VW's promise of producing millions of EVs each year in the near future, which means other plants are going to have to chip in as well. Luckily for the German carmaker, it's not exactly short on those, especially since a large part of its EV production is going to be located in China.
The first EV to come out of Zwickau will be the I.D. hatchback, which is scheduled to enter production in late 2019. Until then, the plant is going to continue building ICE cars while undergoing all the needed modifications to be ready to make the switch when the time comes.
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