VW boss Herbert Diess got the web going with the holiday test of an electric car. Now Diess has drawn his conclusion. A realization is surprising.
Update August 18, 12.15 p.m.: VW boss Herbert Diess has kept his word. The boss of the world's largest car manufacturer had promised his fan base on the career portal LinkedIn a week ago that he would report on his experiences with the fully electric ID.3 after returning from vacation in Italy . Now the factory holidays in Wolfsburg are over and Diess is delivering.
His conclusion on the trip from Munich to Lake Garda is - unsurprisingly - positive overall. Vacation trips in modern electric cars are “already working really well today”, advertises the 61-year-old in the run-up to the market launch of the ID.3 planned for September. The cars offer "so much comfort" and run "so confidently that the vacation can begin with the vacation drive in great serenity".
"I am very happy that I have decided on the ID.3 for this year's holiday," says our #VWGroup CEO Herbert Diess on @LinkedInDACH in his experience report.
- Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) August 17, 2020The VW boss believes that this also applies to the dreaded topic of charging . The charging infrastructure between Munich and Lake Garda is "well developed". You can have a relaxing cup of coffee on the go and charge the ID.3 at the same time.
VW boss: E-cars are much more relaxed than combustion engines
Overall, Diess sums up , “the electric vacation trip is definitely more relaxed than with a combustion engine”, which is somewhat surprising in view of the sales figures in the group. After all, combustion engines still account for well over 95 percent of sales in the global VW empire.
Of course, the VW boss also has a few points of criticism ready. The charging infrastructure, for example , warns Diess , must be further expanded if “people now switch to e-mobility en masse, as hoped”.
There are also a few suggestions for improvement to the ID.3 team, albeit only - not surprisingly - on a few details. The boss recommends that the developers should do a little more work on the user interface. If you currently want to skip a song from a playlist in ID.3 , you have to press the switch down. He and his daughter Caro agreed that it would be more logical to press the up arrow key. In addition, the charging stations would have to be stored more precisely in the navigation system. A good 200 meters discrepancy, the engineer thinks, is simply too much.
Steering wheel in ID3.jpg
© LinkedIn / Herbert Diess
VW: Test report provides a divided echo
At LinkedIn, Diess' conclusion ensures a divided response. Volkswagen is giving "the people the long-awaited car", puns one user. Now there are “no more excuses” when it comes to electromobility. There is also applause for Diess' LinkedIn offensive. The initiative is "really great". Diess has shown courage and made the right decisions for the group, they say.
Other users, on the other hand, are taking a hard line with the ID.3 and electric mobility. The interior of the ID.3 is "as scary as a Dacia," grumbles a LinkedIn user.
Another user still considers e-cars not suitable for everyday use, regardless of what the VW boss said. “Unfortunately, as a frequent driver, 15 minutes of charging time for 100 kilometers doesn't convince me! My current VW company car has a range of almost 1,000 kilometers with one tank load. And I refueled in about five minutes. "
VW boss Diess goes on vacation with an e-car and e-bike: a picture detail is irritating
Update from August 13, 1:02 p.m.: On Wednesday, VW boss Herbert Diess posted photos of his excursion on an e-mountain bike from the Group's own motorcycle brand Ducati on the LinkedIn career portal . The model called "MIG-S" made him curious. Therefore he wanted to try it out on vacation, wrote the VW boss on his post.
VW boss goes into raptures - Ducati boss is relieved
The conclusion of the Wolfsburg Capo di Capi on the test drive on Lake Garda is of course positive. This Ducati is “technically top” and an “Italian beauty with great attention to detail”, enthused the otherwise rather sober manager. Diess is particularly impressed by the ability to adjust the seat height directly on the handlebars. The engineer was also happy with the performance. The e-bike made in Italy drives "almost like an enduro motorcycle".
On the internet, the trekking tour on the strictly limited and already sold out high-end bike (list price: 4581 euros) generated very different reactions. Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali, for example, was relieved. "I am very happy that you like the Ducati MIG-S," wrote Domenicali in the Diess-Post. This should make the future of the Italian motorcycle brand in the VW Group more secure.
Test object: The Ducati MIG-S e-bike above Lake Garda.
© LinkedIn / Herbert Diess
In an interview with Handelsblatt in summer 2018, it sounded very different. Ducati needs "a plan for the future". Simply having Ducati as a motorcycle icon in the VW group is “not enough from an entrepreneurial point of view”, it was said two years ago.
VW test drive: users are about clean maturity wonder n
Other LinkedIn users, on the other hand, expressed specific wishes for future technical e-bike developments in the widespread VW group. The suggestions included an ultra-light drive or a recuperation brake so that the e-bike battery can also be recharged downhill.
However, the photos of the fire-red fun mobile caused some suspicion among users. The tires, commented one user, “stayed pretty clean” - quite “unlike the advertising photo on the Ducati website”.
Another user drew a comparison between VW and Tesla . “Board member VW”, it says in telegram style “discovered (...) the bicycle, invented in the 19th century”. Tesla boss "Leon (sic!) Musk flies to Mars - 22nd century". This would mean "3 centuries" between the two companies.
VW boss Diess drives an e-car on vacation in Italy: Users see "kidding"
Update: Monday, August 10th, 10:31 am: VW boss Herbert Diess has attracted a lot of attention in social networks and on the web with his e-car campaign. On Thursday, the 61-year-old set off for Italy with his daughter Caro in a fully electric ID.3. He wanted to prove that you can go on vacation with an e-car, wrote Diess on his LinkedIn profile.
The head of the world's largest car manufacturer probably didn't want to take too much risk. Because instead of going to the south or at least to the Adriatic Sea or Sardinia , Diess only drove to Lake Garda - and that too from Munich . In Malcesine on the east bank was the ID.3 sighted, reports the web portal Teslamag. With that, Diess would have covered a total of almost 400 kilometers. Many travelers who go on their summer vacation cover significantly longer distances.
VW: Corrosive comments on social networks
The mini-tour generates irritating comments on social networks . With a diesel and a full tank, writes a user, Diess would not only get to Lake Garda, but also back again. Others don't really trust the technology in the ID.3. A Facebook user asks whether an escort vehicle with engineers and mechanics was there. Another user thinks the short trip to Lake Garda is simply "total pissing off".
CHI LI HA VISTI? IL grande capo di #Volkswagen e la figlia Caro a spasso in #Italia con la nuova elettrica ID.3. Un viaggio tipo "cliente misterioso": 15 giorni per testare l'auto e la rete di ricarica italica. Se li incrociate, segnalate ... ⬇️https: //t.co/3VYhkpdKoP@VWGroup pic.twitter.com/w5ca7bcLDs
- Vaielettrico (@vaielettrico) August 7, 2020In his current LinkedIn post, Diess was nevertheless very satisfied with the tour over the Alps . “We arrived at our destination as planned and relaxed,” writes the engineer. The people "keep looking curiously", many have not yet seen the ID.3 live. After returning from vacation in Italy, Diess wants to publish a detailed report. The tour, declared as an official test drive, has been causing nervousness for the VW engineers in Wolfsburg for a long time (see initial report). The Stromer in Golf format comes onto the market in September after massive software problems.
First report from Friday, August 7th, 12.15 p.m .: - VW boss Herbert Diess loves the high-profile appearance. This applies to hardly any other topic as much as to e-mobility. Now the 61-year-old is going all-in for e-mobility in public. In the E-Auto ID.3, Diess has now set off from Munich on vacation in Italy.
With the tour across the Alps, the VW boss wants to prove that you can go on vacation today - despite all the tiresome discussions about charging options or ranges, writes Diess in a blog post on Facebook and the career portal LinkedIn. The manager lets the community know that the trip is an “official test drive. Means: The boss tests himself ".
VW: Vehicle testing by Diess makes VW engineers nervous
In the corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg , the unease about the vehicle testing in the wild is apparently quite large. He was told that “the test makes some colleagues nervous when I test the vehicle intensively for two weeks”. There is no reason for that. The ID.3 made a “very good impression and got great marks”, writes Diess.
And because he's already there, the VW boss is spreading a spirit of optimism in view of the market launch for the ID.3 planned for the beginning of September - including the exclamation mark: "This will be great!"
VW: ID3 test drive causes blasphemy waves in social networks - and a lot of encouragement
The enthusiasm of the top VW test driver is not unconditionally shared on social networks . According to a user on Facebook, he should "attach a caravan". Another blasphemed that, given the length of the route, Diess might be tempted to conquer the Brenner "with the car train".
Our #VW team in the # VWID3 #PopupStore # Munich will inform and advise interested parties about the fully electric vehicle until August 27, 2020.
More information about this ➡️ https://t.co/8W21pJP9cp #eMobility #Aktionen #eAuto pic.twitter.com/dhG0a1KMfj
Other users, however, see the test drive quite positively. This , it is said in several posts, not only preaches the change to e-mobility, but also exemplifies it.
VW: Massive software problems with the ID.3 caused a delay
One thing is clear: the high-profile Italy tour can use the golf- sized e-car . Because the market launch of the ID.3 was overshadowed by massive problems in software development.
The ID.3 is in VW -Werk Zwickau built. In the meantime, however, several thousand vehicles had to be parked because of the software problems. But by now most of the bugs should have been fixed. The actually planned augmented reality function (AR) and the VW app store are not yet ready at the beginning. With AR, drivers receive additional information from the navigation system in the windshield. In addition, at the start there is probably no possibility of receiving the updates via the cellular network - i.e. over-the-air. Ironically, the drivers of the car, with which a “new, dynamic era in the world of electromobility” was to begin (VW self-promotion), must therefore go to the workshop again - just like in the past.
Volkswagen is in the middle of converting to e-mobility. Group boss Herbert Diess is now making his own managers responsible.