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- Volkswagen factory in Zwickau only manufactures electric cars
The Volkswagen factory in Zwickau in Lower Saxony, Germany has seen its latest combustion car come out of its assembly line: the seventh-generation Golf R Estate. Vehicles have been built here since 1904, and iconic models such as the Trabant have emerged from its assembly line.
Today this plant will be dedicated exclusively to the assembly of electric cars, such as the Volkswagen ID.3 from November 2019, and in the future, it will also house the models of its sister brands SEAT and Audi.
the end of an era
Volkswagen
The German brand has said goodbye to combustion engines in Zwickau with this variant of the Golf, equipped with a 2.0-liter gasoline engine and finished in Oryx White Pearl Effect, which will go to a German customer.
With an investment of 1,200 million euros, the German manufacturer has been transforming Zwickau to make it the hub of its electrification plan. Once the final expansion phase is reached from 2021, it will produce six MEB platform models from three of the group’s brands, thanks to the 8,000 employees who work there in line with more than 1,600 robots that carry out assembly tasks.
The transformation works have already started in Hall 6, where Golf Estate has been produced until now. After a conversion phase that will last for several weeks during the summer, the first electric vehicles will be produced there at the end of the year, along with the ID.4, and an SUV from sister brand Audi is also planned.
The ID.3 electric motor, the 16-year-old dual-clutch gearboxes, and parts of the MEB modular platform leave the Kassel plant in the center of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Electric motors are manufactured here for all MEB vehicles in Europe and North America, and in parallel for the Chinese market. Parts of the battery box, shock absorbers, structural components, and the central tunnel are also developed and delivered to the Zwickau plant for assembly and thus complete the vehicle body.
For its part, the battery system for the ID.3 is manufactured in Brunswick alongside that of the Scania and MAN trucks.
As reported by the German brand, over the past 30 years, 6,049,207 Volkswagen cars of the Polo, Golf, Golf Estate, Passat Saloon, and Passat Variant models have been produced in Zwickau.
The Volkswagen ID.4 is the compact and 100% electric SUV that promises up to 500 km of autonomy
In 2017 Volkswagen presented its ID Crozz, a prototype electric SUV, in Shanghai. That concept has evolved and has now been integrated into this new ambitious transformation of the brand, which has reused the concept to present the Volkswagen ID.4.
It is an all-electric SUV in a contained format that, according to the firm, “will be produced and sold in Europe, China and the United States” and which joins Volkswagen ID.3 as the first exponents of this fully electric future that this manufacturer proposes.
Lots of autonomy for a compact SUV
One of the key points on which they have focused on the design of this compact SUV is that of aerodynamics. According to Volkswagen officials, this section is so advanced in ID.4 that it allows “to reduce the drag coefficient and that will manage to boost the autonomy of ID.4 to 500 kilometers, depending on the version .”
Volkswagen will first launch a rear-wheel-drive version to later develop the four-wheel-drive version. The maximum battery capacity is known to be 77 kWh and to be located “close to the center of the lower body to create a low center of gravity and optimal driving dynamics.”
The manufacturer also promises “interior space to spare” thanks to that compact electrical system and a fully digital dashboard controlled by both touch and voice gestures.
Production of the Volkswagen ID.3 began late last year, and the firm indicates that its production target for electric cars will be 1.5 million units by 2025 instead of the one million it intended to reach in its previous estimate. The new member of the family, the Volkswagen ID.4, is expected to present in Europe throughout 2020, and then launch in the United States as well.
SOURCE: https://vocal.media/wheel/goodbye-to-diesel-and-gasoline-cars-volkswagen-factory-produces-last-ever-combustion-engine-car-shifts-to-e-vs-only
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