VW to up EV output in the USA “in a massive way”

In response to President Joe Biden’s transport decarbonisation course, Volkswagen wants to realign its electric car plans for the United States “in a massive way”. Thomas Ulbrich, chief development officer at VW, has just made the announcement in Munich.

Although more concrete details have not yet been revealed, this is likely to mean that VW envisages more electric models than previously planned for the US market and could also manufacture more of them locally. Thomas Ulbrich is said to have made this announcement during a press conference on new vehicles such as the Aero B and the Trinity in Munich.

According to Bloomberg news agency, the revised BEV strategy for the US is currently being developed and should be completed this year.

Currently, VW only offers the ID.4 in the US based on its MEB platform. The model is still imported and will then also be produced at VW’s US plant in Chattanooga starting in 2022. This is to be flanked by another BEV model that has not yet been named. VW is also expected to import the ID.Buzz, which will be assembled in Mexico in future.

Volkswagen’s US electric portfolio is currently rather modest. The new roadmap is expected to change that. Duncan Movassaghi, responsible for sales and marketing at Volkswagen of America, said that an electric pickup truck could also be an option for the US market. However, there are apparently not yet concrete plans.

The signals sent out by the Biden administration for a greater commitment to electric mobility are also encouraging other manufacturers to expand their involvement in the United States. Ford and GM, among others, each recently announced a billion-dollar increase in their electric vehicle budgets. Volvo subsidiary Polestar also recently made public that its first SUV model named Polestar 3 will be produced locally for customers in the US at Volvo Cars’ manufacturing centre in Ridgeville.

At the beginning of April, President Biden unveiled a two-trillion-dollar investment plan with which he intends to fundamentally modernize the country’s infrastructure and stimulate economic growth. Of the total 1.7 trillion euros, 148 billion euros (174 billion US dollars) have been earmarked specifically for electric vehicles. Details of these investments included in the plan were revealed shortly afterwards. A whopping $100 billion is to be invested in purchase subsidies for electric cars and $15 billion in the construction of 500,000 charging stations.

The Volkswagen brand recently announced a further acceleration of its electric plans with its new ‘Accelerate’ strategy. By 2030, for example, the share of purely electric cars in sales is to rise to over 70 per cent in Europe and to more than 50 per cent in the USA and China.

carscoops.com, thedetroitbureau.com, insideevs.com (electric pick-up)