The success story of the e-up! can resume. The all-electric small car can now be ordered once again. For many customers, Volkswagen's successful model served as their entry into e-mobility – not least of all because the city specialist offers extensive standard equipment, space for four people and an impressive range. To date, over 80,000 of this model of vehicle have been sold around the world, and in Germany it was in second place in 2021 for all-electric vehicles with the most new registrations.

The vehicle had turned into an absolute bestseller in recent years, causing delivery times to rise to up to 16 months. For this reason, Volkswagen temporarily stopped taking new orders for the mini vehicle at the end of 2020. Production continued throughout 2021 to process the order backlog. With 30,800 deliveries, this took the e-up! to second place among Germany’s most popular electric vehicles across brands last year. Now that the order backlog has been processed successfully, the model from the segment below the ID.3 is available to order again in Germany and will gradually be rolled out in other European markets.

Available to order now, the e-up! Style Plus features electric drive power of 61 kW/83 PS. The maximum WLTP range is up to 258 kilometers. In addition to its dynamic driving performance – thanks to features such as its high torque of 210 Nm – the e-up! boasts low consumption of 12.7 kWh (combined) per 100 kilometers. Among other standard features, the model comes with a CCS charging plug for rapid charging, the Lane Assist lane departure warning system, Climatronic air conditioning, a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel and 15-inch “Blade” alloy wheels. The charging time of the 32.2 kWh battery system (net value) is short: with 40 kW DC charging power, 60 minutes are enough to recharge the batteries to 80 percent. With alternating current, an 80 percent charge with 7.2 kW of power takes a little over four hours. The list price for the current version is 26,895 euros including VAT (in Germany), before deduction of the environmental and innovation premium of 9,570 euros (in Germany).

The e-up!’s market success contributes to Volkswagen’s electric offensive. To date, the company has sold more than half a million all-electric vehicles worldwide – including the 263,000 new BEVs registered in 2021 alone. As part of the ACCELERATE strategy, the proportion of BEVs is to rise to at least 70 percent of all Volkswagen brand deliveries in Europe by 2030. That is substantially more than one million vehicles. The company also intends to be net carbon-neutral by 2050.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

The Volkswagen Group and the Bosch Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the establishment of a European battery equipment solution provider. The two companies plan to supply integrated battery production systems as well as on-site ramp-up and maintenance support for battery cell and system manufacturers. The companies are aiming for cost and technology leadership in the industrialization of battery technology and the volume production of sustainable, cutting-edge batteries. Through the “local for local” production approach, this will also be a step towards the objective of carbon-neutral mobility. In Europe alone, the Volkswagen Group plans to build six cell factories by 2030.

The Volkswagen Group and the Robert Bosch Group are setting up a project unit to explore the possibilities of industrial-scale solutions for battery manufacturing in Europe . The corresponding memorandum of understanding was signed yesterday by Thomas Schmall, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group in charge of Technology and CEO of Volkswagen Group Components, and Rolf Najork, Member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch Group and Chairman of the Executive Board of Bosch Rexroth.

The companies aim to supply the entire range of processes and components needed for the large-scale manufacture of battery cells and systems. The industry-wide demand is enormous: In Europe alone, various companies plan to build cell factories with a total yearly capacity of around 700 gigawatt-hours by 2030.

For both partners, this alliance is a further step towards playing leading roles in the world of e-mobility. The partnership will draw on complementary areas of expertise: While Volkswagen is an accomplished at-scale automaker and is on its way to becoming a major battery cell manufacturer, Bosch has excellent know-how in factory automation and systems integration.

Thomas Schmall commented: “Europe has the unique chance to become a global battery powerhouse in the years to come. There is a strong and growing demand for all aspects of battery production, including the equipment of new gigafactories. Volkswagen and Bosch will explore opportunities to develop and shape this novel, multibillion-euro industry in Europe. Our decision to actively engage in the vertical integration of the battery-making value chain will tap considerable new profit pools. Setting out to establish a fully localized European supply chain for e-mobility made in Europe certainly marks a rare opportunity in business history.”

Rolf Najork stated: “Together with Volkswagen, we seek a path to industrialize production processes for battery cells with standardized equipment. We have the best prerequisites for this: Bosch is not only the world's biggest automotive supplier, but also one of the leading suppliers of factory equipment. We understand how battery technology works, and know how to manufacture it. With more than 135 years of automotive experience and our proven industrialization expertise, we want to serve the growing demand for batteries. European industry has the potential to become a technology driver for the ecological transformation of the economy.”

Volkswagen and Bosch have formed the project unit with the target of preparing the establishment of the new company by the end of 2022.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Based on preliminary figures, Volkswagen Passenger Cars has exceeded the ambitious European CO2 fleet targets for 2021 and produced around 5.5 million grams fewer CO2 than required by law. The passenger car fleet of new vehicles in the European Union achieved average CO2 emissions of 113 g/km – the legal CO2 target for the brand was 119 g/km. In 2021, the realistic WLTP standard replaced the old NEDC. Volkswagen had already over-fulfilled the targets for 2020.

“By significantly exceeding our CO2 targets once again, we have demonstrated our fast and systematic approach to sustainability and the transformation towards e-mobility through our ACCELERATE strategy. We are thus making an important contribution to meeting the Paris climate goals. This year, we adding to the momentum with our new models,” said Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter.

Last year, Volkswagen delivered more electric vehicles worldwide than ever before, handing over more than 369,000 electric cars (+73 percent versus 2020), including approximately 106,000 PHEVs (+33 percent) and 263,000 all-electric vehicles (+97 percent) to customers. The Group thus doubled its BEV deliveries year-on-year.

Volkswagen will again increase its investments in the future over the next five years – to around €18 billion. Most of this, almost €14 billion, will be spent on e-mobility – for example for the development of further new models and the transformation of our plants towards e-mobility. In addition, there will be more than €1 billion for hybridization. The Emden and Chattanooga (USA) plants will start production of the ID.4 this year. In the current fiscal year, Volkswagen will also expand its offerings based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB): This way, the all-electric models ID.5, ID.5 GTX and ID.BUZZ will gradually be launched in international markets.

At the heart of Volkswagen’s “Way to Zero” decarbonization program is the brand’s ACCELERATE strategy aimed at stepping up the pace of the electric offensive. Volkswagen intends to be net carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. The interim target is to cut CO2 emissions per vehicle by 40 percent in Europe by 2030 (baseline: 2018). The production, including supply chains, and operation of electric cars are to be made net carbon neutral.

The goal is the full electrification of the new vehicle fleet. By 2030, at least 70 percent of all Volkswagen’s unit sales in Europe will be all-electric vehicles – i.e. substantially more than one million vehicles. In North America and China, the share of electric vehicles in unit sales is expected to reach at least 50 percent.

The final confirmation by the EU Commission regarding the CO2 figures is to follow at a later date.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Volkswagen is driving forward the shift to electric vehicle manufacturing with its ACCELERATE strategy. Today’s official start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the completion of Volkswagen’s successful transformation of its Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility. The long-established site in western Saxony is the first large-scale facility of any volume manufacturer worldwide to switch over all production from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. Six models from the Volkswagen, Audi and CUPRA brands will now be manufactured in Zwickau based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The plants in Emden (ID.4), Hanover (ID. Buzz) and Chattanooga (USA, ID.4) will be added to the electric vehicle production network this year. The Volkswagen brand has thus laid the foundations for building 1.2 million all-electric-vehicles at its sites in Europe, the USA and China in 2022 based on the MEB.

Dr. Christian Vollmer, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Brand responsible for Production: “Volkswagen will continue to increase the pace of e-mobility in 2022 with its ACCELERATE strategy and the expansion of the model portfolio. The Zwickau production plant has paved the way for the Group to do this with six ramp-ups from three brands in just 26 months. The knowledge and experience gained will help us to continue to electrify our production network quickly and efficiently.”

Dr. Stefan Loth, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Saxony: “After Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden, we have now converted a second Volkswagen factory in Saxony to dedicated electric vehicle production. The start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the successful transformation of the Zwickau plant on the product side. Our focus now – depending on how the semiconductor situation pans out – will be on achieving full capacity. This year we aim to exceed the 180,000 vehicles Volkswagen Saxony built in 2021.”

Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Saxony: “Switching over to electric vehicle production was exactly the right decision for the Zwickau plant. Demand for our models is booming, and our team’s jobs will be safe for years to come. We are a trailblazer of change and have repaid the Group’s trust in us. This is first and foremost a fantastic achievement by our workforce.”

An efficient digital model factory

Since 2018, around 1.2 billion euros has been spent on converting the Zwickau plant from ICE vehicle production into a digital, flexible, highly efficient showcase factory for the manufacture of electric vehicles. Increasing use is being made of technology such as smart Industry 4.0 robots and driverless transportation systems that take components to the assembly line completely autonomously.

Close to 40 percent of the investment volume went into the enhancement and expansion of the body shop alone. This area’s already high level of automation now reaches nearly 90 percent, and the number of state-of-the-art robots has risen from 1,200 to 1,625. Automation in the assembly line has also been almost doubled to 28 percent, and production ergonomics have improved significantly. Only jobs involving monotonous or physically strenuous work have been affected, such as working with one’s hands above one’s shoulders or overhead work.

In total, more than 50,000 square meters of new building space have been created, such as for the expansion of the press shop, which is where all shell body parts for the electric models are now pressed on site – saving 9,000 truck trips per year. Other major projects involved construction of a new logistics building as well as a battery sequencer, which is now the tallest building at the Zwickau site. The volume of investment for these three projects alone is around 115 million euros.

The transformation to electric vehicle production in Zwickau has created enduring, future-proof jobs. The some 9,000 permanent staff working at the site received training in the new technology as part of a major training initiative. For example, all employees attended information events on electric vehicles. A total of 3,000 production workers completed the training center’s e-mobility program to prepare them for the new production requirements. By the end of 2020, the Zwickau team had put in a total of around 20,000 days of training.

Models and production figures

In Zwickau, six models from three brands will leave the production line – the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 plus the Audi Q4 e-tron, Q4 Sportback e-tron and CUPRA Born. The production capacity corresponds to an annual output of more than 300,000 vehicles, making the Zwickau plant currently the most efficient electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Europe.

Green production

With the models produced in Zwickau, Volkswagen only delivers vehicles to customers that are produced in a carbon-neutral manner throughout the entire supply and production chain. In the manufacturing process, carbon generation is avoided or reduced as far as possible – and any unavoidable emissions are offset through climate action.

The carbon avoidance measures in manufacturing also extend to energy-intensive production of battery cells. Here, it was agreed that suppliers would use green electricity from renewable sources in cell production. The life-cycle assessment of electric vehicles can be improved further with this important tool.

At the Zwickau plant, the external power supply was switched over to 100 percent green electricity as early as 2017. Since production of the ID.3 began in November 2019, any remaining emissions from the site’s highly efficient cogeneration unit and the entire upstream chain have been offset for all models manufactured in Zwickau through certified climate projects implemented in accordance with officially recognized standards.

Target vision of the Volkswagen brand

At the heart of the “Way to ZERO” decarbonization program is the brand’s ACCELERATE strategy aimed at stepping up the pace of the electric offensive. Volkswagen intends to be net carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. The interim target is to cut CO2 emissions per vehicle by 40 percent in Europe by 2030 (baseline: 2018). The production, including supply chains, and operation of electric cars are to be made net carbon neutral.

Added to this is the systematic recycling of the high-voltage batteries from old electric vehicles. The goal is the full electrification of the new vehicle fleet. By 2030, at least 70 percent of all Volkswagen’s unit sales in Europe will be all-electric vehicles – i.e. substantially more than one million vehicles. In North America and China, the share of electric vehicles in unit sales is expected to reach at least 50 percent. In addition, Volkswagen will be launching at least one new electric car each year.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com