Slashdot Mirror
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.
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 lot of people are getting excited about the new VW EVs because there are rumours that they will be extremely cheap. Like 20k Euro cheap, with a 200+ mile range. Personally I'm quite sceptical of that, I don't think they can get the battery cost down far enough, but we shall see. Maybe they can save money by making the cars extremely basic in other ways.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
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.
A lot of people are getting excited about the new VW EVs because there are rumours that they will be extremely cheap. Like 20k Euro cheap, with a 200+ mile range. Personally I'm quite sceptical of that, I don't think they can get the battery cost down far enough, but we shall see. Maybe they can save money by making the cars extremely basic in other ways.
They got the battery cost down by using standard AAs. The first 200 miles if free, after that it's $1000 for your next set of batteries for another couple hundred miles. For an extra $30,000 you can upgrade to rechargeable batteries.
Do you have ESP?