Volkswagen is two weeks away from unveiling the future of its company, with high hopes that it will scrub away some of the stigma left by the diesel emissions scandal.
The automaker plans to pivot from oil to electrons with a heavily electrified vehicle lineup, and a showpiece concept heading to the Paris Motor Show precedes an actual EV with up to 373 miles of range, Autoblog reports.
According to the publication, which sourced the information from Christian Senger, Volkswagen’s head of battery electric vehicle operations, the concept vehicle will be accompanied by a new corporate slogan (based on an older ad campaign): “Think New.”
That’s in keeping with Volkswagen’s aching desire to erase its recent past, which included the infamous term “clean diesel.”
Senger claims the company plans to introduce an EV built on its modular MED platform that offers a minimum of 250 miles of range. The platform, designed solely for the planned crop of EVs, can be scaled up for a 373-mile (600 kilometer) vehicle, he added.
Expect the concept car to feature a long wheelbase and short overhangs — signature elements of a platform designed to maximize battery and passenger space. The production vehicle won’t appear for another few years, however. By that point, the market could have up to half a dozen lower-priced 200-plus mile EVs.
So far, Volkswagen’s foray into the electrified field hasn’t yielded much interest. The short-lived Jetta Hybrid bit the dust earlier this year, while the low-volume eGolf is saddled with a paltry range (83 miles).
Just wait, claims Volkswagen. The company’s long-term plan calls for sales of two-to-three million EVs by 2025. Before the first MEB platform electrics hits U.S. shores, consumers can expect a longer-ranged eGolf. European specs for the model (which starts production in December) call for a 186-mile range, though its EPA-estimated range won’t hit that mark.
That range would be impressive for a non-luxury EV, were it not for the 238-mile Chevrolet Bolt due out in a few months and the 215-mile Tesla Model 3 coming next year. It can be forgiven, given that its platform was designed around fossil fuel powerplants.
The Paris Motor Show kicks off on October 1.
Something something emission scandal. Can’t trust VW.
Given VW’s track record on electrical system reliability…
The biggest conundrum in Wolfsburg will be what term to use for the perpetually illuminated check engine light when there’s no engine.
‘Check propulsion system?’ ‘Check mobility solution?’ ‘You’re screwed, you hipster punk?’
Despite my once-and-out bad VW experience, I’d be willing to take another look at their EVs.
The eGolf gets good reviews for range truthfulness and driveability, but it’s a compliance car only. So to prove their seriousness, they’ll need their own Gigafactory and offer 50-state availability of these mythical cars.
Plus, just like their SUV/CUV line, they’re VERY late to the game.
Volkswagen’s trademark: Being late to the game, then acing it anyway. Three-box sedans in ’61, wagons in ’62, FWD compacts in ’74, hot hatches in ’76, compact convertibles in ’80, FWD vans in ’92, minivans in ’95, compact minivans in ’03, folding hardtop convertibles in ’06, CUVs in ’07. (They weren’t all bestsellers, even in Germany, but they all made a very respectable late entry in their respective class.)
“Plus, just like their SUV/CUV line, they’re VERY late to the game.”
Sadly, this has become their M.O. That’s probably why they’ll never be more than a bit player in the US. The worst part about it is that they’ll talk about something desirable three years before they have any hope of offering it to offer customers, get some people excited, only for them to buy something else instead of waiting. I’m sure that if you asked all of the other manufacturers they also would be touting EVs with a 250+ mile range that they plan to have in the next 3 years.
@notwhoithink
US Market has never been the main market for VW, they tend to treat it as an afterthought
1) German cars, and particularly Volkswagens, have a long history of bullet proof electric system reliability. The first thing the buying public thinks of when they think Volkswagen is “rock solid electrical systems/electronics”. This stellar track record and deep wellspring of positive public perception will be something that VW can capitalize on. All those years of providing customers with utterly dependable electrics will finally pay off.
2) VW has consistently demonstrated an uncanny knack for seeing an upcoming market segment and exploiting it first before anyone else can get in the door. For example, small SUVs in the US market. VW beat Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4 to market, and VW sold hundreds of thousands of small SUVs in the ‘States before the Japanese manufacturers could catch up. Their foresight in identifying and exploiting new market segments is legendary. Couple this to VW’s lightning fast concept-to-showroom product development, and you have a winner.
I had an 87 Syncro. Judging by your first paragraph, it sounds like we had the same experience.
So a company that is facing billions in fines, class actions, SEC inspections etc. will now put on a completely new business, which has zero or negative margin for the time being, in which it has little experience, no strategic partners, leaving tons of investments in conventional propulsion to sink?
No way…
Furthermore, I insist on my theory that German automakers will be the last in the EV game, because of the german fixation with high speed driving, the only area where EV will never be able to compete.
@markogts
For VW ,EV’s are a hedging the bets issue. As of Last month Scania/MAN got a 16% hold of Navistar,;
Bugatti introduced the 1500hp Chiron and VW introduced it’s Sprinter like replacement Van, the Crafter.
VW Corporation keeps rolling on
I can’t wait to entrust Volkswagen with a completely electric car. I’m sure the seventeen-hundred bespoke VAG-only modules working in concert can be counted on for weeks if not months of dependable, trustworthy service!
Will they allow for home use, or must you bring it to an authorized VW dealer to plug it in for the night?
That’s when they’ll fill the hidden fuel tank with diesel for the engine that helps it get its incredible range.
A rushed product from VW, guess reliability will be phenomenal! :) It’s an image cleaning product for the rest of the world, in Europe they weren’t even fined and most cars they sell today are still diesels. At core nothing has changed.
@Brock_Landers
Exactly nothing has changed and they have overtaken Toyota as the biggest Auto Corporation
I guess that makes everyhing ok then, doesn’t it?
@Brock_Landers
Corporate types would say yes.
@Brock_Landers
Corporate types would think so
WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (LMAO News) – Volkswagen announced today that it will be launching a breakthrough electric car that offers 500 miles of range and a short five-minute recharge time.
The new Volkswagen Verrückt features VW’s new Electric Blue motor, which boasts an electric motor that is powered by a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine that has been specially designed to operate without the use of catalytic converters. “The Verrückt’s electric motor produces no tailpipe emissions and can be recharged at virtually any gas station by means of a common recharge nozzle system,” an anonymous Volkswagen spokesman said during a press conference. When asked whether use of the diesel motor posed any compliance issues, the company spokesman began mumbling in German and was otherwise not available for comment.
Clever German Engineering!
Don’t knock it. Not every automaker is capable of making a 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder turbo electric engine.
In the Fed sponsored money-for-nothing-for-nonsense era, production of actual cars, now takes a very distant second spot to producing endless reams of “what great things we are going to do years from now” elevator pitches. Selling products to debased, destitute debt slaves, is no longer nearly as profitable, as selling pitches to those with preferential access to fresh print right off of Yellen’s and Draghis’ inkjets.
Do you have any nonsense to share that’s relevant to the subject?
Sorry, I don’t do nonsense.