Volkswagen could build up to fifty million electric cars on its new electric vehicle platform and is looking at broadening its manufacturing footprint in the United States, Chief Executive Herbert Diess informed Automotive News.
“We set up the plant in Chattanooga always with the idea to be able to grow it, to mirror it,” Diess stated.
“The plant is still too small, and we are thinking of different options – it might be electric cars, it might be a different derivative of the Atlas (SUV) – it’s still open.”
Volkswagen and Ford are looking at boosting cooperation, mostly in commercial vehicles, Diess added.
“What we’re talking about is sharing a few platforms and manufacturing sites there, which makes sense. And within the dialogue, we are also checking other options, but this will be the main focus if we come to a conclusion.”
Ford could help VW develop a worldwide successor to the Amarok pickup, or a unibody pickup, Diess stated.
VW is open to licensing its MEB electric car platform to third party producers, he reiterated, describing that was a way to ramp up economies of scale.
“Today, we have hundreds of different drivetrains in our industry, and there’s a lot of differentiation in the drivetrain. I think this will become less, because the battery cells will become very similar on the basis of the same chemistry inside,” Diess stated.
He said VW could build 50 million electric vehicles worldwide throughout its brands, starting in 2020, and had battery sourcing agreements for them. He said licensing MEB to other car manufacturers would lead to more efficiency gains.
“It will be more about the economies of scale. Still, the battery pack, for the foreseeable future, will be more costly than a combustion powertrain, so I think it makes a lot of sense to make more volume,” Diess stated.
A VW spokesman said the number pointed by Diess was a theoretical long-term goal for the MEB electric car platform. The Volkswagen Group’s present vehicle platform, MQB, has spawned around 50 million mainly combustion engine vehicles over several brands and many years, he stated.
Volkswagen Group sold 10.7 million vehicles in last year.
The German company is investing greatly in electric vehicles as it attempts to rebuild its reputation after a scandal over rigged emissions tests of diesel engines in the United States.
