- Volkswagen ID.1 is the start of the largest electric offensive in the automotive industry
- Up to 15 million vehicles based on MEB expected in first wave
- New types of cooperation between manufacturer and component suppliers
A year ahead of the start of production of the fully electric ID., Volkswagen has announced further details of its electric offensive. Throughout the Group, up to 15 million vehicles based on the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) are to be built in the first wave, compared with 10 million vehicles according to previous plans.
Up to 2023, the brand will be investing more than €11 billion in e-mobility, digitalization, autonomous driving and new mobility services, including more than €9 billion in the ID family. Not long ago, more than 30 CEOs from the key component suppliers came to Wolfsburg to usher in the first phase of preparations for the ID. together with Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group.
Production of the ID. is to start at the end of 2019 at the Zwickau plant. “We are now entering the decisive phase. In about 12 months, the new ID. will usher in a new era for Volkswagen, comparable with the first Beetle or the first Golf.” said Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand responsible for E-Mobility.
With the fully electric ID., Volkswagen will introduce a new generation of vehicles that will set new standards for digitalization and connectivity. The ID. will always be online and connected to the internet via an automotive cloud. Updates and upgrades will continuously make the car better.
The first model will be the compact ID; this is to be produced from the end of 2019 at the Zwickau plant, which is currently being transformed into a fully electric car factory in Europe. By 2025 at the latest, the brand intends to sell 1 million electric cars per year throughout the world.
