Volkswagen ID.3 production has finally started at the German automaker’s Zwickau plant. The ID.3 electric hatchback serves as Volkswagen’s first MEB based car and will become the forerunner in VW’s electric future.
The ID.3 which was fully unveiled in September will be offered in multiple variants with ranges between 205 and 341 miles with the entry model starting at under $33,000 (€30,000). Volkswagen has been pouring a lot of money into its electrification efforts and has been trying to make itself a leader in electric cars moving forward. They have been talking the talk, and we will still have to wait if they can walk the walk.
The automaker has taken one step closer as their first current-generation electric car, a white ID.3, rolled off the production line with both Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and Group CEO Dr. Herbert Diess watching.
Diess commented on the ceremony, saying:
“The ID.3 will make an important contribution to the breakthrough of e-mobility. It makes clean individual mobility accessible to millions of people and is a milestone for our company on the road to becoming climate-neutral by 2050”,
The start of ID.3 production also marks the beginning of the conversion of the Zwickau plant into what will become the “largest electric car factory in Europe”. The plant is scheduled to produce 100,000 cars next year but will ramp up to 330,000 in 2021 with six models from three brands being produced there. The ramp-up will be needed if Volkswagen wants to meet its goal of 22 million electric cars sold by 2028.
Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for E-Mobility, commented:
“The ID.3 is a high-tech car from a high-tech factory. With some 1,700 robots, driverless transport systems and fully-automated manufacturing processes, Zwickau gives a contemporary insight into the shape of forward-looking high-volume production of EVs. Ultimately, though, it is the people who build the cars who are the key to success: Our team in Saxony mastered the two-year conversion phase culminating in today’s SOP with much know-how and dedication. An outstanding team achievement!”
It is important to note that while production of the ID.3 has begun, Volkswagen will not begin deliveries until summer.
Source: Volkswagen
