Image: VW
Volkswagen has launched a second German manufacturing plant dedicated to the production of electric vehicles, following the conversion of a facility in Emden which will now produce the all-electric ID.4.
The Emden site joins VW’s all-electric Zwickau plant, also in Germany, as well as its Anting and Foshan in China. A further two EV-only factories in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Hanover, Pennsylvania, will begin production in the US by year’s end.
It is expected that the six sites will enable VW to build 1.2 million all-electric vehicles per year, all of which will be built on the company’s MEB electric architecture.
“Rapid expansion of production capacities for our successful ID.4 model is a key component of our Accelerate strategy,” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen.
“It helps us accelerate the transformation to zero-carbon mobility and create further capacities to meet the high demand for electric vehicles.
“Volkswagen has invested around €1 billion in converting the Emden plant to manufacture electric vehicles, and it now plays host to 8,000 employees.
However, this is only the first step for Volkswagen in Lower Saxony, with plans to invest a total of €21 billion over the next few years.
“Volkswagen is making Lower Saxony, where we have 130,000 employees, Germany’s center for electric mobility,” said Brandstätter.
“Apart from the ID.4, Emden will make another model – the AERO B – next year. In addition, production of the iconic ID. Buzz will commence this year at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Hanover.
“It will be joined from 2023 on by the ID.3 made in Wolfsburg, while a further electric vehicle – the Trinity – will then roll off the assembly line at the location starting in 2026.”
Despite the significant challenges afflicting the global automotive sector – and, in particular, electric vehicle manufacturing – caused by renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in China, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and more, Volkswagen expects to produce 800 units per working day at Emden by year’s end.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
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