Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Group has announced three separate, yet simultaneous partnerships with companies specializing in battery development. These agreements include materials technology group Umicore, battery specialists 24M Technologies, and lithium producer Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. Volkswagen looks to utilize these new partnerships to further the development of its own in-house EV battery cells.

Herbert Diess, CEO of VW, invited Tesla CEO Elon Musk to call in to an internal conference with 200 VW executives in an effort to spur further innovation from his company. The two auto execs continue to have a beyond cordial relationship after Musk tried to hire Diess to become Tesla’s CEO.

Following the release of its Q3 delivery numbers, Volkswagen Group continues to grow its presence in the BEV market, up 109% compared to Q3 last year. Nine months into 2021, Volkswagen has more than doubled its worldwide deliveries, nipping at the heels of Tesla – the current undisputed EV market leader.

Tesla continues to grow as well, and could (maybe) surpass one million deliveries in 2021, but at the rate Volkswagen is moving (up 138% this year), it could be following the trend in 2022.

As electric vehicles look to gain an even larger portion of the automobile market in 2021, consumers will look at a number of factors as they choose to go electric. One major specification on any EV data sheet is the estimated range i.e. the amount of miles your new vehicle can travel on a single charge. Naturally, you’re going to want the most battery for your buck. Below is a list of the current EV options for 2021 sorted by longest range.

Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.3 has found much success during its first year in the European market. Volkswagen has recently reported over 144,000 orders for the ID.3 the past year in Europe, and is now working around the clock to deliver them in a timely manner.

Volkswagen partnered with Electrek to test the ID.4 electric crossover for a week. During the development, release, and launch, we’ve covered the ID.4 with great anticipation.

For this sponsored partner post, I test out the ID.4 as a daily driver and road-trip vehicle, taking notice of the comfort, utility, and light off-road capabilities.

VW invited Electrek to their Chattanooga factory location to check out the new AWD ID.4, which ups the electric SUV from around 200 to 300 horsepower with a front-wheel-drive motor. Even better, next year, North American units of the ID.4 will be built locally at the huge VW factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which we got to see first hand…

Volkswagen has finally given us our first look at the sub-£20,000 ($24,000) compact electric car we’ve been eagerly awaiting, in the form of the adorable, stubby, VW ID. Life concept.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed the estimated mile range of two AWD versions of Volkswagen’s all-electric ID.4 SUV. The dual-motor trims of the ID.4 Pro and Pro S were announced over the summer, but we are just now seeing the EPA estimated range of each to compare the previous rear-wheel-drive versions.

With its official debut at the Chengdu Motor Show in China, Volkswagen’s ID.3 is now available for pre-order ahead of deliveries this October. The ID.3 will now join Volkswagen’s ID.4 and ID.6 EVs overseas as the German automaker looks to expand its presence in China.

Global automaker Volkswagen has shared plans to showcase a version of its upcoming ID.5 GTX crossover SUV coupé next month at the IAA Munich Motor Show. However, this international expo debut comes with a caveat, as Volkswagen’s ID.5 GTX will be showcased as a “near-production concept” wrapped in camouflage.

After unveiling the ID.6 in Shanghai this past spring, Volkswagen has officially begun delivering the all-electric mid-size SUV to Chinese customers. The first version of the SUV to see deliveries is the Volkswagen ID.6 CROZZ, a result of a joint venture with state-owned automotive manufacturer FAW Group.

Volkswagen is reportedly looking to sell a stake in Electrify America that would come with a $1 billion investment into its electric vehicle charging network.

What company, and especially automaker, do you think could be interested in such a deal?

Battery manufacturer Northvolt announced a new $2.75 billion round of investments to help add 60 GWh of production capacity. Volkswagen is contributing another $620 million in the round.

Volkswagen Group has announced it is significantly expanding its production of battery systems at its components plant in Braunschweig. The expansion will double the plant’s output and, when fully ramped up, will be able to produce 500,000 MEB battery systems per year. Additionally, the plant will also be able to produce an additional 100,000 battery systems for non-MEB platform models, including some hybrids.

Volkswagen will change the name of its US electric car unit to “Voltswagen,” according to an accidentally leaked press release as reported by CNBC, which verified its authenticity with “a person familiar with the company’s plans.” Before it was taken down, the press release was dated April 29.

[Update: As of March 29, the name change is now official per VW’s media page. The Wall Street Journal reported on March 30 that it’s an April Fools’ joke, despite that it’s not April 1 yet.]

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.