11 July 2019

VW producing main electric car components 'in-house'

A high proportion of the components for Volkswagen's new ID.3 electric car are produced 'in-house' within the Volkswagen Group, writes Brian Byrne.

The Golf-sized car, intended to be the flagship of the company's electric vehicle programme, goes on sale next year. Pre-series parts for the car are now being produced at a range of the company's plants.

The electric drive for the car is being produced at VW's Kassel plant, which is also making platform components. The plant is the one which has produced dual-clutch gearboxes for VW cars for the last 16 years.

Key elements for those electric drivers, the stators and rotors, are being produced by Volkswagen Group Components in Salzgitter, where petrol, diesel, and compressed natural gas engines are currently being built.

The battery system for the ID.3 will be made at the company's Brunswick plant, in a new hall the size of nine football pitches. The battery systems already manufactured at Brunswick include those for current electric and hybrid vehicles by the Volkswagen brand as well as trucks for Scania and MAN.