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VW Investing $800 Million In Tennessee Factory To Make Next-Gen Electric Vehicles (techcrunch.com)
Volkswagen will spend $800 million to expand a U.S. factory that will produce the automaker's next generation of electric vehicles. "The factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. will be the company's North American base for manufacturing electric vehicles," reports TechCrunch. "The expansion is expected to create 1,000 jobs at the plant." From the report: VW's Chattanooga expansion is just a piece of the automaker's broader plan to move away from diesel in the wake of the emissions cheating scandal that erupted in 2015. Globally, VW Group plans to commit almost $50 billion through 2023 toward the development and production of electric vehicles and digital services. The Volkswagen brand (so not including its Audi or Porsche brands) alone has forecasted selling 150,000 EVs by 2020 worldwide, increasing that number to 1 million by 2025.
The Tennessee factory (along with the other new facilities) will produce EVs using Volkswagen's modular electric toolkit chassis, or MEB, introduced by the company in 2016. The MEB is a flexible modular system -- really a matrix of common parts -- for producing electric vehicles that VW says make it more efficient and cost-effective. Electric vehicle production at the Tennessee site will begin in 2022. However, Volkswagen of America says it will offer the first EV based on the MEB platform to customers in 2020.This EV will be a series-production version of the I.D. CROZZ SUV concept that was first shown at the North American International Auto Show last year. This vehicle will have the interior space of a midsize SUV in the footprint of a compact SUV. Volkswagen of America will also offer a multi-purpose EV based off the I.D. BUZZ concept. This EV will be a series-production version of the I.D. CROZZ SUV concept that was first shown at the North American International Auto Show last year. This vehicle will have the interior space of a midsize SUV in the footprint of a compact SUV. Volkswagen of America will also offer a multi-purpose EV based off the I.D. BUZZ concept.
The Tennessee factory (along with the other new facilities) will produce EVs using Volkswagen's modular electric toolkit chassis, or MEB, introduced by the company in 2016. The MEB is a flexible modular system -- really a matrix of common parts -- for producing electric vehicles that VW says make it more efficient and cost-effective. Electric vehicle production at the Tennessee site will begin in 2022. However, Volkswagen of America says it will offer the first EV based on the MEB platform to customers in 2020.This EV will be a series-production version of the I.D. CROZZ SUV concept that was first shown at the North American International Auto Show last year. This vehicle will have the interior space of a midsize SUV in the footprint of a compact SUV. Volkswagen of America will also offer a multi-purpose EV based off the I.D. BUZZ concept. This EV will be a series-production version of the I.D. CROZZ SUV concept that was first shown at the North American International Auto Show last year. This vehicle will have the interior space of a midsize SUV in the footprint of a compact SUV. Volkswagen of America will also offer a multi-purpose EV based off the I.D. BUZZ concept.
I would love to move to Chattanooga, TN! It does seem that the U.S. is in somewhat of a manufacturing boom of late. Hopefully they aren't or haven't been given too many incentives. The privilege of being closer to the consumer should be worth it from a competitiveness perspective. VW makes a great product.
The first option, I think.... I anticipate that there are going to be taxes thrown onto electric cars, regardless of where they are made, that are going to make them increasingly unattractive to would-be purchasers.
I'd have voted for the third option, but it makes an assumption that Trump has a brain.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
VW shouldn't even bother adding this $800 billion factory.
In a couple of years Tesla will be the only car company that matters.
Tesla is producing over 0.1% percent of the all automobiles today. Within three years, Tesla may hit 0.2% market share. VW shouldn't even try to compete, with their measly 8%.
So what? At least they are doing it.
Yeah, now they'll lie about how long the batteries last
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Ask yourself why would VW decide to create 1000 more jobs in TN instead of Germany or perhaps California?
No Unions and benefits are much cheaper for companies since they can be skimped upon. Plus pay is less due to a low cost of living compared to CA/Germany.
Every human being experiences the passage of time. Knowing exactly what your vehicle emissions are, however, is not possible unless you have specialized equipment for measuring it.
And at least generally speaking, one only ever lies about something that they have a reason to think the lie will be believed.
If one can obviously and very readily disprove a claim, it is unlikely that they would make the claim in the first place.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Ask yourself why would VW decide to create 1000 more jobs in TN instead of Germany or perhaps California?
No Unions and benefits are much cheaper for companies since they can be skimped upon. Plus pay is less due to a low cost of living compared to CA/Germany.
There is a substantial car manufacturing base in the area already. Nissan makes the Leaf there, so there's a decent educated market already in existence. Land is cheap there, it's easy for them to expand, and I bet the state of TN gave them a small to medium sized tax break for expanding there.
"Diplomacy is something you do until you find a rock." --Richard Pound
A large roughly humanoid Orange thing with no brain, currently US President.
So what? At least they are doing it
I'm my experience, forcing a person or corporation to do something they would not have otherwise done will lead to a half-assed attempt so this is unlikely to be a successful venture.
Who is going to buy all those EVs?
People who own their own home, don't have to drive 300kms every day, and are in the market for new cars? EVs have a ton of advantages over ICE cars. To date they've been held back by their disadvantages--range, price, and charging infrastructure availability.
The public charging network is basically at a point where you can find a charger wherever you go and daily charging can be done by people who own their own homes. It'll still be a little while before apartment dwellers have the infrastructure for daily charging at home.
With the most recent model years range has basically been solved for a good chunk of the population's driving habits (yes, yes, you're an edge case for whom an electric vehicle could nevvvvvvvvvver work; spare me the anecdotal data).
And now it's just down to cost. Which is looking like it's on the way down.
Literally all my friends have an EV on their radar as a possible next car. And no, we're not a bunch of marxist lefties. EVs are just starting to seem like a really nice option.
The taxes on electric cars are going to be a nightmare. Gasoline taxes are really, really simple, and have a direct relationship with how much you drive. They are unobtrusive (nobody needs to read your odometer), and the rates can be manipulated if efficiency goes up in order to keep the revenue stream roughly the same. Electric? I think the best idea I've heard of is taxing tires, but those are such an infrequent expense that putting 60k miles of tax on four tires is going to make them insanely expensive. At least gasoline tax is spread out over the time you use the car.
What? You know there are many things to disagree with Trump on without making straw-man arguments.
The EU had a tariff on US manufactured cars. (IIRC it was 19%.) He brought up US tariffs (IIRC it was 3%) to EU levels. German car manufacturers then went to the EU and requested a drop in EU tariffs on US cars.
This was not "anti-German" now was it?
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
Ha!
Why would Putin prefer "energy-independent" Trump over "don't-drill" Hillary? He wouldn't.
I hope, for your sake, that you don't believe your BS.
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
taxes on electrics are annoying, but not a nightmare. For the places that already implement alternate fuel taxes you just use an annual sticker tax: take the high end of "typical" annual mileage, divide by an assumed equivalent 5mpg and multiply by your gasoline tax rate. I'm paying more in alternate fuel tax for one EV than I did for the whole family fleet of ICE vehicles.
Don't worry your little head, the tax man knows how to turn everything into an increased revenue opportunity.
I wouldn't be TOO surprised. The cost per range has a lot to do with the weight. The Model X weighs about as much as a Hummer H2. The Model S curb weight is in mid-sized SUV territory. If Volkswagen keeps the weight down, that gives them range.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
and the rates can be manipulated if efficiency goes up in order to keep the revenue stream roughly the same
You obviously don't live in the US. Around here, the rates can't ever go up. For any reason. Why? Because politics, and some incredible short-sightedness where the original tax wasn't even pegged to inflation.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
I've priced out adding a 200v outlet in the back of my garage already. Not in the market for another year or two, but it's definitely on the horizon. Our typical day is about 20 miles of city driving. That's like $1 worth of electricity. Even with our stupidly, unsustainably low gas prices around $2/gallon, that's still half the cost. Factor in the almost total lack of maintenance, and adding that 200v outlet pays for itself in just a couple of years.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
As to the first point, only if by brains you mean ego, as for the second and third points, one woman is plenty for me, thanks, and while I won't say I couldn't use more money than I currently have, I have more productive ways to spend my time than being in envy of those who might be financially better off than I am.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
The Volt isn't really an EV though. It's an EV AND an ICE. No wonder it's complex.
Taxes on Tires! I don't think so! The Law of Unintended Consequences will hit that one hard. How will you handle Used Tires? Will a National Tire Association be born? (You can have my used tire when you pry out of my cold, dead hands?) The minority community will be hard hit by in rise in prices of used tires. And what would how high would the tax be -- $1K per new tire? Will there be a difference for a specialty tire for a car never driven on public roads? Or low mileage tires? Or high mileage tires? I drive 500 miles a month -- will I have to pay the same tax as the driver who drives 2,000 miles a month? The tax on business vehicles? The tax on over-the-road truck tires? What about the recapped tires? What about damaged before End-Of-Life tires? What about the price rise of goods because the transportation cost go through the roof? Are you going to pay more for your pizza? Beer? Girlfriend? This Tax on Tires idea has more problems than pay per mile.
There's an almost yearly MOT anyway, they already record the mileage, they can just connect tax to that.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Tires are pretty predictable in terms of lifespan. There are exceptions, as you note, but the government DGAF about that, so eat it, sucker.
Unlike pay-per-mile, it doesn't involve massive invasions of what little privacy we have left.
Depends on where you live. I haven't reported my mileage to any government, ever, except at a vehicle sale. No inspections. If you want to dig through the records of every oil change place in town, have fun.
Not only lots of jobs, but electric vehicles as well.....well done VW!
Ferret
Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc