VW continues to expand its e-offer.
The group is planning an e-Polo from 2023.
The Wolfsburg-based company is now targeting buyers in the entry-level segment for electric vehicles for the first time.
Volkswagen
plans to invest around 75 billion euros in its e-offensive over the next five years.
After the ID.3 and the ID.4, the group is now also planning a Stromer in the
entry-level
segment
.
For
environmentalists
the plans arrive.
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Hanover -
Volkswagen
will also include an affordable small car in its new range of all-electric cars.
The vehicle is planned for the expansion stage from 2023, should be located below the recently launched
ID.3
and cost around 20,000 euros in the basic version, but at least significantly less than 30,000 euros.
A project team is working on the model.
It should be about the size of a
Polo
, as can be seen from corporate planning.
The project has a high priority and was brought forward.
A possible
ID.2
would be the step by
VW
,
expected by industry
observers
,
to expand its range of electric cars downwards.
The
ID.3
compact car
,
which has been sold since September
and with which CEO Herbert Diess caused a sensation in the summer, will be followed by the
ID.4
small SUV at the turn of the year
.
After that, the
ID.5
- a mixture of SUV and sedan with a range of up to 470 kilometers - and the larger
ID.6 continue
the series.
The electric
ID.Buzz
bus
will be launched in 2022. In 2023, the
Aero B
luxury car
will be
added, which is expected to travel up to 700 kilometers when fully charged.
⚡️ #VWGroup Components delivers essential components of our electric # VWID4.
“We can expect to be one of the largest manufacturers of automotive e-components in the foreseeable future,” says Thomas Schmall, CEO of Volkswagen Group Components.
- Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) November 26, 2020
VW: Environmentalists welcome plans for e-polo
The specific plan for an “E-Polo” has met with great approval from environmentalists.
“
VW is
finally expanding
its ID series with a smaller, resource-saving ID model,” says Tobias Austrup from
Greenpeace
- an
unusual statement for the
organization
, which is very critical of car manufacturers.
At the same time, he warns that
Volkswagen
and others must now follow suit and offer more alternatives to heavy SUVs: "Traffic will only be climate-friendly if the combustion engine disappears and cars become smaller and lighter at the same time."
The ID series is based on the electrical construction
kit MEB
, with which
VW
wants to create a uniform technical basis for e-mobility and digitization for its group subsidiaries as well.
These platforms are now being designed jointly across brands, including with
Skoda
.
This should save costs and promote the exchange of experience in order to better coordinate software and control systems.
The new
Golf 8
and
ID.3
had start-up problems here.
VW: Extension of the purchase premium should drive demand
Interest in purely electric cars has also grown due to the purchase premiums that were expanded in the summer.
The last “
car summit
” decided to extend the sales promotion funded by the state and industry until the end of 2025.
Despite the general demand
shock
in the
Corona
crisis,
small cars have
recently been delivered more frequently.
For October, the Federal Motor Transport Authority reported almost a quarter more new registrations than in the same month last year.
Except for mobile homes, there was only an increase in sports cars - albeit a much smaller one.
For electric cars of all sizes, the increase in October was even more than 360 percent.
The e-Golf had also found many customers in Germany, but the drive is running out in the new model generation.
VW
relies on the ID family.
Meanwhile, the brand's total sales are still lagging far below the previous year's level.
VW: The car expert is on the right track
Car industry expert
Stefan Bratzel also
praised the small car plans.
"I think this is very necessary," said the head of the Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch Gladbach.
A fully electric offer in the segment will become even more important in the coming years if stricter emissions standards lead to noticeable price increases here too.
However, some competitors - such as Renault with the Zoe model - opened up this business area much earlier.
“They were much faster there,” says Bratzel.
In
his opinion
,
VW
could
also achieve a high market share in small e-cars in the medium term.
The decisive factor is the “force” of the economies of scale: if the new modular E-kit system is launched, the Wolfsburg-based company has good chances.
Until then, for example, the electric version of the even smaller
VW Up has to
serve as a kind of bridge.
It is questionable, however, whether the car, for which customers often have to wait longer due to capacity bottlenecks, can continue to run for years in terms of return.
Manufacturers usually only earn well with small and compact cars if they can achieve very high unit and sales figures.
Otherwise, more expensive models such as SUVs, sports cars or heavy sedans usually generate much higher profits.
VW is planning billion-dollar e-offensive
In its investment plan, which was updated in mid-November, the entire VW group had announced spending of 150 billion euros over the next five years.
Almost half of this goes into e-mobility and digital.
At the headquarters of light commercial vehicles in Hanover, an E-class model for other brands is also to be created.
It could be the "
Tesla
Fighter" for
Audi
,
Porsche
and
Bentley
, with which
VW
wants to attack the US pioneer.
(
dpa
)