The VW Group can leapfrog its rivals in electric car technology if it achieves scale across all of its brands effectively, according to the firm’s technical development boss, Frank Welsch.
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Volkswagen boss Matthias Müller revealed at the Geneva motor show that the firm would launch an electric family car with a range of 500km (310 miles) and a recharge time of 15 minutes for a price lower than that of an equivalent Volkswagen Golf. Insiders had previously told Autocar that the VW Group’s highest management sees the potential for it to be the first iconic electric car and the perfect vehicle to banish memories of the Dieselgate emissions scandal.
“The MEB platform toolkit gives us the perfect opportunity to gain scale by using the platform solution in as many ways as possible,” said Welsch. “If we can achieve scale then all sorts of things will become open to us, from reduced costs to faster R&D.”
Welsch also revealed that a heavily revamped VW Volkswagen e-Golf will go on sale at the end of this year or early next year, with a claimed electric range of 186 miles, up from the current model’s 118 miles. “Cell technology is moving forward quickly,” he said, “and will move even faster in future.”
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VW will present an EV with
Certainly in 10 years, probably in 8
The projections on recharge times are based on the next generation CCS standard which VW is part of (along with GM, BMW, M-B, ABB etc.) VAG has mentioned this in the figures for the Porsche and Audi EVs.
I think the big disrupter could be China. China is investing heavily in EV tech. BYD is already the biggest producer of EVs. As soon as the domestic industry is able to cope I guess we'll see China banning ICEs, certainly from cities and possibly elsewhere. China of course has been massively profitable for many car companies including VAG.
I'd love to see it