Volkswagen looks to build own battery factory to supply its new electric vehicles
November 23, 2016
Volkswagen is reportedly considering building its own factory to make electric vehicle batteries as it moves to expand production of zero-emission cars in the near future.
The company’s Chief Executive, Matthias Mueller, is reported by Reuters to have told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, “If more than a quarter of our cars are to be electronic vehicles in the in the foreseeable future then we are going to need approximately three million batteries a year. Then it makes sense to build our own factory.”
In October at this year’s Paris Motor Show, Volkswagen introduced its I.D. electric concept car. Powered by a 125 kW / 170 PS electric motor the car will have a range of up to 600 km and a price equivalent to today’s VW Golf with comparable power. The company stated that the zero-emission I.D. will go into production in 2020, launching a new generation of innovative electric vehicles.
“In 2020 we will begin to introduce an entire family of electric vehicles on the market. All of them will be based on a new vehicle architecture which was specially and exclusively developed for all-electric vehicles. Not for combustion engine or plug-in hybrid vehicles. The I.D. stands for this new era of all-electric vehicles, for a new automotive era: electrical, connected and autonomously driving,” stated Dr Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management Volkswagen Brand.
The I.D. It will be the first Volkswagen on the market to be based on its newly developed Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB). The I.D. is positioned as a compact electric car with which Volkswagen aims to expand its range of high-volume models in parallel to best-sellers such as the Polo, Golf, Tiguan and Passat.
