Volkswagen AG

Electric Cars with AI to Expand VW-Ford Alliance

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT, AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS

Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG announced they are expanding their global alliance to include electric vehicles and will collaborate with Argo AI to introduce autonomous vehicle technology in the U.S. and Europe. Volkswagen and Ford independently will integrate Argo AI’s SDS into vehicles.

Ford will also become the first additional automaker to use Volkswagen’s electric vehicle architecture and Modular Electric Toolkit – or MEB – to deliver a high-volume zero-emission vehicle in Europe starting in 2023. For Ford, using Volkswagen’s MEB architecture is part of its more than $11.5 billion investment in electric vehicles worldwide. Both companies will  continue to target additional areas where they can work together on electric vehicles because of their goal to accelerate the transition to sustainable and affordable mobility. 

“Looking ahead, even more customers and the environment will benefit from Volkswagen’s industry-leading EV architecture. Our global alliance is beginning to demonstrate even greater promise, and we are continuing to look at other areas on which we might collaborate,” Volkswagen CEO Dr. Herbert Diess, said. “Scaling our MEB drives down development costs for zero-emissions vehicles, allowing for a broader and faster global adoption of electric vehicles.”

The alliance, which covers collaborations outside of Volkswagen and Ford’s joint investments in Argo AI, does not entail cross-ownership between the two companies and is independent from the investment into Argo AI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Automaker Announces Electric Car Production Based at Tennessee Facility

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT, AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS

A major automaker recently announced that it will base its manufacturing of electric vehicles in Chattanooga, Tennesee.

Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, will invest $800 million into the facility, which will be the company’s North American base for manufacturing electric vehicles.

Chattanooga will be the first dedicated location in North America for production of a vehicle using Volkswagen’s modular electric toolkit chassis, or MEB. In addition to Chattanooga, Volkswagen is building the first dedicated EV production facility in Zwickau, Germany, starting MEB production by the end of 2019. Volkswagen will also add EV-production at facilities in Anting and Foshan, in China, in 2020, and in the German cities of Emden and Hanover by 2022.

"The US is one of the most important locations for us and producing electric cars in Chattanooga is a key part of our growth strategy in North America," said Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG.

Volkswagen of America will offer the first EV based on the MEB platform to customers in 2020. This vehicle will be a series-production version of the ID. CROZZ SUV concept, first shown at the North American International Auto Show last year. This vehicle will have the interior space of a midsize SUV in the footprint of a compact SUV. Volkswagen of America will also offer a multi-purpose EV based on the ID. BUZZ concept.

Volkswagen currently builds the midsize Atlas SUV and the Passat sedan at the Chattanooga factory, which opened in 2011. A five-seat version of the Atlas, the Atlas Cross Sport, will begin production in Chattanooga later this year.

Scott Keogh, CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America

"We could not be prouder to build the future of mobility here in the U.S.," said Scott Keogh, CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America. "We’re known as ‘the people’s car' for a reason, and our EVs will build on that tradition."

Globally, Volkswagen Group plans to commit almost $50 billion (44 billion euros) through 2023 toward the development and production of electric vehicles and digital services.

EV production at the site will begin in 2022.

 

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