VOLKSWAGEN Group has used its 2021 annual media convention to announce its plan to shift to a single modular EV platform beginning the center of the last decade, which is able to finally be used to underpin all VW Group EVs.
In accordance with VW Group CEO Herbert Diess, the brand new platform – referred to as the Scalable Techniques Platform (SSP) – will merge parts from the present volume-selling MEB and upcoming premium PPE architectures, and by round 2035 would be the sole EV platform for VW Group automobiles.
The SSP platform is predicted to debut someday round 2025 with the Artemis undertaking, a high-tech EV improvement enterprise from Audi that was first introduced final 12 months.
SSP will even be used to underpin the just lately teased Volkswagen Trinity, which was described as setting “new requirements in vary, charging velocity and digitalisation” and that includes Stage 4 autonomous driving capabilities when it was first introduced earlier within the month.
By the top of the last decade, VW Group says the SSP can be rolled out throughout all car courses.
Together with its transfer to standardise platforms throughout its portfolio, VW Group can also be trying to standardise software program with the arrival of the VW.OS working system in 2024, with the corporate’s software program operation to be the second-largest software program firm in Europe behind SAP, with a goal of as much as 10,000 workers.
Battery tech will even be standardised, with a give attention to a single, unified battery cell that can start rolling out in 2023, and by 2030 will cowl 80 per cent of VW Group EVs.
VW Group can also be focusing on a 50 per cent discount in battery prices to make EVs a extra enticing and reasonably priced proposition.
Within the meantime, VW will ramp up manufacturing of EVs underpinned by the MEB platform, which is presently executed on the Zwickau and Dresden vegetation, and can be expanded to Emden and Hanover in 2022, and Wolfsburg in 2026.
Subsequent 12 months will even see the manufacturing of MEB automobiles in Chattanooga, USA, whereas the Anhui plant in China will begin constructing MEB automobiles in 2023.
By 2022, VW Group will supply 27 MEB-based automobiles throughout its world portfolio.
The PPE platform will debut on a brand new car subsequent 12 months, with VW Group promising sooner acceleration, increased ranges and shorter charging instances.
Given its premium positioning, it can possible be used on Audi, Porsche and Bentley automobiles, notably because the latter has introduced it is going to be an all-electric model by 2030.
PPE can be phased out by the mid-2030s as SSP turns into the ever present platform alternative for all VW Group automobiles.
Together with the EV platform announcement, Audi has additionally introduced it has stopped the event of recent internal-combustion engines attributable to European plans to introduce stricter Euro 7 emissions requirements.
As a substitute, the model will solely give attention to refining its current powertrains to attain a tighter emissions ranking.
Talking to German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Audi CEO Markus Deusmann stated the brand new requirements would place “excessive restrictions on the internal-combustion engine”.
“We are going to now not develop a brand new combustion engine, however will adapt our current combustion engines to new emission tips,” he stated, including that reaching the Euro 7 commonplace could be “technically an enormous problem with on the similar time little profit for the setting”.
Audi is but to announce any plans to modify to an all-electric portfolio sooner or later, however has been steadily creating quite a lot of EVs such because the E-Tron SUV, in addition to the E-Tron Sportback, E-Tron GT and This fall E-Tron, with a goal of 30 electrified mannequin launched by 2025.
