Volkswagen's Zwickau facility to develop EVs exclusively

MANILA: Last June 26, the Volkswagen Golf R Estate 1 in Oryx White Pearl Effect, which also has a 2.0-liter petrol engine, marked the culmination of the heritage of combustion engine vehicles as it left the production line at the Zwickau facility in Germany. Only electric vehicles (EVs) of the auto brand will be produced moving forward, and the sister brands Seat and Audi will also follow suit in the same plant.

Volkswagen began manufacturing in May 1990 at its facility in western Saxony. Over three decades, exactly 6,049,207 Volkswagen vehicles of the Passat Estate, Passat Saloon, Golf Estate, Golf, and Polo models have been generated in Zwickau.

For the first time, Volkswagen is in a gradual transition to electric mobility in its Zwickau factory. In the final expansion phase for 2021, six MEB models will be designed for the three Volkswagen Group brands in Zwickau.

All 8,000 employees of the facility will be prepared for EV manufacture and for dealing with high-voltage systems, as part of the different training initiatives. The Zwickau team will also complete about 20,500 training days by the end of 2020 to guarantee long-term job security at the site.

The ID.3 1st Edition series production started in west Saxony in November 2019. ID.3 was the first vehicle that was based on the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) of Volkswagen. The platform was built primarily for EVs, and it makes the most of the opportunities that electric mobility provides.

ID.3 is also distinguished by its dynamic driving behavior, expansive interior space, and long ranges. The market premiere of ID.3 1st Edition will happen almost concurrently across Europe in September 2020.

Meanwhile, work has begun for the Golf Estate. After a transformation phase, which lasted for several weeks, the first EVs will be produced by the end of 2020, along with the manufacture of the ID.4, an Audi SUV.

Managing Director of Technology and Logistics at Volkswagen Sachsen Reinhard de Vries said that the trend in terms of electric mobility would accelerate progressively. He also reiterated that they would be able to meet the target from Zwickau since they have already established the capability to make 330,000 vehicles by 2021.

Photo from Volkswagen

Also read: Volkswagen details upcoming EV compact SUV ID.4