Volkswagen

VW’s MEB electric vehicle platform is getting a stamp of approval from UBS in their teardown of the VW ID.3 electric car.

The German automaker is seen catching up to Tesla in EV technology.

As the world enters 2021 with a cautious optimism, its global markets are still feeling many of the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic that have yet to be eradicated. Many people have pivoted toward remote work. This has increased smartphone and laptop demand, leading to shortages of essential components like semiconductors. One industry that is beginning to experience the impact of these shortages is automakers. If semiconductor manufacturers can’t catch up, it could spell more delays for several major automotive companies.

After a full 21 months since Fully Charged took the test-version vehicle out in sunny South Africa, Robert Llewellyn finally got to grips with the “First Edition” VW ID.3 in the not-so-sunny south of England.

It’s no secret that, having had a few of them, we are fans of Volkswagen‘s Golf. And surely with its similar proportions, the ID.3 is its logical, technological successor. But does the reality match that expectation?

VW is hyping the launch of the ID.4 electric SUV coming next week with new releases, and in a new interview with executives today, the automaker said that it plans to sell 500,000 ID.4 vehicles per year.

The Volkswagen ID.3 EV briefly became VW’s top-selling retail car in Germany last week when customers began placing orders at dealerships. The orders came more than a year after Volkswagen started taking deposits for its first purpose-built electric car. The company revealed who is buying the EV: mostly young “techie” men who had not previously purchased a VW.

The first undisguised images of the Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover are spreading across the internet. The source is likely a Chinese car website. The photos of the production ID.4 reveal a compact crossover with clean lines that flow from the hood to the hatch.

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Following preliminary agreements from last year, Ford and Volkswagen this week signed a far-reaching agreement to co-develop electric and self-driving vehicles. The alliance is seen as a way to share costs with new technologies and to take on competitors such as Tesla and General Motors.

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Twitter, Facebook, and Shopify are among the companies that are allowing employees to work at home permanently. If the trend continues, there could be long-term reductions in oil use, congestion, and car pollution.

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Europe attracted €60 billion in investments for electric vehicles in 2019 — compared to China’s €17.1 billion the same year.

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Volkswagen dealerships will not be the primary means for selling the company’s ID family of electric cars. The parent company, Volkswagen AG, announced today that 100% of VW retail partners have agreed to their new role as an “agent” that facilitates the sale.

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Tesla has “galleries.” Polestar has “spaces” and Byton will set up “places.” An automaker can’t sell an EV apparently unless it has a hip, boutique retail environment to show it off. The latest is Volkswagen, which opened its first “ID store” in Dresden today.

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The world’s electric-car infrastructure is growing by leaps and bounds. But there are still gaps – places without chargers that could be served if EV charging was portable, flexible, and put on wheels. Colorado-based Lightning Systems today became the latest to introduce a mobile DC fast charger for electric vehicles. But are these solutions more than a gimmick?

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Volkswagen sales director Jürgen Stackmann announced today on Twitter and LinkedIn that “pre-bookers” can complete their order for an ID.3 1st Edition starting June 17. There are reportedly more than 30,000 pre-orders. In recent months, it was rumored that Volkswagen would delay the market introduction of the ID.3 EV, but the first orders will happen next month.

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In recent years, EV-producing automakers have focused on expanding choices for all-electric, long-range sedans, SUVs, and pickups. That leaves an opening for smaller electric cars at the lowest price points for mass-market consumers, mostly in Europe and Asia. Volkswagen is planning to fill that gap with a new brand of EVs selling for less than $22,000.

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SK Innovation, a South Korean battery supplier for Volkswagen and Ford, said on Tuesday it will spend $727 million to build a second EV battery plant in the United States. Construction is expected to begin in July, with battery production slated to start in 2023.

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Germany reopened car dealerships today, but it could be a struggle to convince consumers to buy a new car. So the country’s top auto executives and politicians are calling for an eco-scrappage plan to spur sales of EVs and other efficient vehicles. Auto executives, government officials, labor, and environmentalists all agree on the need for the program.

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A German YouTuber got his hands on a VIN for the upcoming ID.3 electric car and used it to access VW’s online manual. He discovered a set of high-tech features not commonly found on a small, affordable EVs. They’re not groundbreaking, but you can see that VW wants to make its EV a high-tech showcase.

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Volkswagen is restarting production at its Zwickau plant on April 20, one week ahead of when most of its global factories will resume. The much-anticipated ID.3 EV, the first of a wave of new VW electric vehicles, is produced in Zwickau. The move comes as the company acknowledges new challenges in meeting EU CO2 targets during the pandemic.

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Fears about the end of internal-combustion vehicles are a real thing for some automakers. In the past week or two, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Mazda all championed the long-term future of internal-combustion vehicles by pointing to the potential of synthetic and biofuels, such as ethanol and microalgae.

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Volkswagen needs to increase its output of electric cars to meet CO2 regulations in the EU. But reportedly, the company continues to work through software problems with its upcoming new ID.3 EV model expected this summer. Now an internal VW document reveals that production of the E-Golf, VW’s current but discontinued best-selling EV, will be extended to around September. Customer deliveries in Europe will be pushed until the end of November.

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Ralf Brandstätter, Volkswagen’s chief operating officer, told the UK’s CAR magazine late last week that the ID.1 is in development. It would become the smallest ID-branded vehicle in Volkswagen’s lineup of about seven electric models. After incentives, the target price could fall below $20,000.

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