VW chooses Wolfsburg as its $2.2 billion EV plant in Germany

Construction will start in 2023, cars should roll off the assembly line from 2026, VW said.
The Trinity sedan will be roughly the size of the mid-size Passat. The car is aimed at the mass market and aims for a range of more than 700 km (435 miles).
It will be technically ready for Level 4 autonomous driving and will introduce VW Group’s SSP electric “superplatform” which will replace ICE and all-electric platforms used by brands such as VW, Skoda, Seat, Audi and Porsche .
VW is targeting a production time of 10 hours per vehicle for the Trinity model, similar to how Tesla will build cars at its new factory in Grünheide near Berlin.
The key is “fewer variants, fewer components, more automation, leaner production lines and new logistics concepts,” according to VW.
The factory will produce about 250,000 cars a year, and building it from the ground up is less complex than converting existing plants, VW brand boss Ralf Brandstätter told reporters in November.
The decision to add a new facility is part of VW CEO Herbert Diess’ push to increase the pace of the EV transition and become more efficient.
The construction of the plant near Wolfsburg is a nod to the powerful VW unions, which have repeatedly clashed with Diess.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report