Photo: Volkswagen
In November 2021, Volkswagen was already discussing if it would refurbish one of its current factories or build a new one to manufacture its most crucial electric vehicle so far. Known solely as Project Trinity, the EV was very likely to be made in a factory close to Wolfsburg. Three months later, that possibility is now officially confirmed by the German automaker.
In a tweet, Volkswagen said that the factory would be called Wolfsburg-Warmenau. The last name refers to a district of Wolfsburg that is right beside Volkswagen’s biggest plant. Thanks to Google Maps, we can see that Warmenau has plenty of unoccupied ground for a new factory. Volkswagen promised to invest €2 billion ($2.187 billion at the current exchange rate) in the new plant.
Project Trinity was defined by Volkswagen as a flat vehicle, meaning that it will be a low one, slated to be very aerodynamic and have a small frontal area, improving its energy efficiency. The sedan will be between 4.50 meters (177.2 inches) and 4.7 meters (185 inches) long. Its shape and size are not what makes it really relevant for the brand.
The Trinity will be a testbed for manufacturing solutions such as large castings. Volkswagen’s new SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) will make its premiere with it. Audi calls its version of this strategy Artemis Project. Porsche recently opted out of this architecture by paying Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles about €100 million ($109.35 million).
With so many factories to reform for this EV, the decision must have been financial. In other words, it was probably cheaper for Volkswagen to build a new factory conceived for all the manufacturing innovations it wanted to apply, instead of converting an existing one to do all that.
The main goal of the Warmenau factory will be to reduce the time each vehicle takes to be produced. After Elon Musk told Herbert Diess Giga Grünheide would do that in only ten hours, Volkswagen decided it had to at least match that. Each vehicle currently built over the MEB platform would demand 30 hours of work to be completed.
Project Trinity was defined by Volkswagen as a flat vehicle, meaning that it will be a low one, slated to be very aerodynamic and have a small frontal area, improving its energy efficiency. The sedan will be between 4.50 meters (177.2 inches) and 4.7 meters (185 inches) long. Its shape and size are not what makes it really relevant for the brand.
The Trinity will be a testbed for manufacturing solutions such as large castings. Volkswagen’s new SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) will make its premiere with it. Audi calls its version of this strategy Artemis Project. Porsche recently opted out of this architecture by paying Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles about €100 million ($109.35 million).
With so many factories to reform for this EV, the decision must have been financial. In other words, it was probably cheaper for Volkswagen to build a new factory conceived for all the manufacturing innovations it wanted to apply, instead of converting an existing one to do all that.
The main goal of the Warmenau factory will be to reduce the time each vehicle takes to be produced. After Elon Musk told Herbert Diess Giga Grünheide would do that in only ten hours, Volkswagen decided it had to at least match that. Each vehicle currently built over the MEB platform would demand 30 hours of work to be completed.
????? "We are setting benchmarks in the automotive industry with Trinity and the new factory and turning Wolfsburg into the global lighthouse for cutting-edge and efficient vehicle production" #Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter.
— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) March 4, 2022
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