Volkswagen Ups Its Stakes in Electric Car Production

It seems there's no stopping Volkswagen in its quest to dominate the electric mobility market.

First, the company is investing €33 billion (more than PHP 1.9 trillion) in these efforts by 2024--and this includes €11 billion (PHP 628 billion) in the Volkswagen brand. Second, its China plant will start producing electric cars based on Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB). Third, it will start producing its Zwickau electric vehicle plant in November. Fourth, its ID.3 will have its world premiere in September. And lastly, its growing ID lineup is now set to appear on European roads this summer of 2020. 

“2020 will be a key year for the transformation of Volkswagen. With the world premiere of the ID.3 and other attractive models in the ID. family, our electric offensive will also become visible on the roads”, says Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Volkswagen brand Board of Management responsible for E-Mobility.

“Our new overall plan for 1.5 electric cars in 2025 shows that people want climate-friendly individual mobility – and we are making it affordable for millions of people.”

Introducing the ID.3

The ID.3 will make its world premiere at the IAA 2019 International Motor Show in September. Based on Volkswagen's Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB), the ID.3 can range from 330 to 550 kilometers, with its basic model priced at around €30,000 (PHP 1.7 million).

Volkswagen is currently offering pre-booking for the ID.3. Currently, there are around 37,000 customers that have made reservations (with pre-booking deposits) for this model.

Other members will also be added to the ID family. The first all-electric SUV – the series production model of the ID. CROZZ will celebrate its world premiere in the course of the year. It will be produced at Volkswagen's Zwickau electric car plant.

Volkswagen's E-Mobility Business

Volkswagen is also venturing into e-mobility services, with the development of charging infrastructure in its list of endeavors. Its newly-established subsidiary Elli aims to install a total of 36,000 charging stations at its plants and dealerships and also throughout Europe.

Aside from charging stations, the company is also set to develop a battery cell with a capacity of 16 gigawatt-hours. It will be developed in Salzgitter from 2020, and production will start at the end of 2023 to 2024. Volkswagen will collaborate with Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt to achieve this goal.