Volkswagen invests €460 million to convert plant to all-electric
December 19, 2022
Volkswagen has announced that it intends to make an initial investment of approximately €460 million to convert the main factory at its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, to all-electric vehicle production. This is investment is said to be primarily earmarked for preparations to produce the company’s newest compact electric car.
The first step towards the factory’s electrification involves re-equipping the site for the ID.301, which will be in partial production at Wolfsburg and Zwickau and is slated to begin leaving assembly lines in 2023, with full production slated from 2024. Ramp-up is due for completion by the end of 2025.
The necessary training measures for the workforce are currently being prepared. Following the ramp-up of the ID.301, another all-electric model for the SUV segment is to boost Wolfsburg’s utilisation for EV production over the long term. The technical basis for the new model is the Modular Electric Drive System (MEB). Volkswagen’s e-car platform is to undergo substantial further development as the MEB+ in an effort to become more efficient.
This will be followed by a further addition to the Wolfsburg site: the Trinity vehicle project, based on the future group-wide Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). By the end of 2033 at the latest, the Volkswagen brand expects to build only electric cars in Wolfsburg (as in all of its other European factories).
“Volkswagen stands for electromobility for everyone. And Wolfsburg will be part of this success story,” stated Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand and Group Board Member for the Volume brand group. “Here at our main plant alone, we will be investing some €460 million by the beginning of 2025, getting the factory ready for the MEB. The ID.301 ramp-up is the first important step towards the electrification of our main plant. At the same time, we are working closely with the Works Council to bring a further electric model based on the MEB+ to Wolfsburg – this will be a high-volume model for the booming SUV segment. With these strong decisions and investments, we intend to bolster the competitiveness of this factory further and give the workforce a concrete long-term perspective.”
The MEB+ platform is expected to enable faster charging speeds and longer ranges. Volkswagen plans to use the highly standardised unified cell manufactured at the group’s own cell factory in Salzgitter (start of production in 2025) in the system.
