As the Volkswagen Group is a vast entity where engine sharing is a second nature, VW’s electric motors will be used by all the Group’s brands - which means they will also power the future Audi e-tron range.
The company’s Salzinger (Germany) production site will be the one to manufacture the new electric motors. The first VW Group vehicle to use these electric engines is the upcoming VW E-UP minicar, which is scheduled to enter production in 2013.
The units are also expected to power the upcoming Audi e-tron electric vehicle range. Recently, Audi announced that it will create a team who will be responsible of designing and building electric vehicles starting from 2012. The brand had previously said that all its future electric cars will wear the “e-tron” badging, just as its 4-wheel-drive models are named “quattro”. The new division will employ 100 people, who will be led by Franciscus van Meel, senior vice president of vehicle electrification at Audi’s headquarters in Germany.
Last month, GM announced that it will invest $246 million in electric motor and drive manufacturing. The company’s development plan includes the construction of a high volume electric drive production facility at the Baltimore Transmission plant that is scheduled to start manufacturing electric motors in 2013.
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