VW's Zwickau site is now an EV production plant
Volkswagen has officially started production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX02 which also marks the completion of the company's transformation of its Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility.
The site in western Saxony is – according to the German carmaker – the first large-scale facility of any volume manufacturer globally to switch over all production from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles.
Six models from the Volkswagen, Audi and CUPRA brands will now be manufactured in Zwickau based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The plants in Emden (ID.403), Hanover (ID. Buzz04) and Chattanooga (USA, ID.4) will be added to the electric vehicle production network this year, the company states in a press release.
“Volkswagen will continue to increase the pace of e-mobility in 2022 with its ACCELERATE strategy and the expansion of the model portfolio. The Zwickau production plant has paved the way for the Group to do this with six ramp-ups from three brands in just 26 months. The knowledge and experience gained will help us to continue to electrify our production network quickly and efficiently,” says Dr. Christian Vollmer, VW Board Member in charge of production.
Since 2018, Volkswagen has spent around EUR 1.2 billion on converting the Zwickau plant from ICE vehicle production into a factory for the manufacturing of electric vehicles. Close to 40% of the investment volume went into the enhancement and expansion of the body shop alone. According to the company this area's level of automation now reaches nearly 90%, and the number of robots has increased from 1,200 to 1,625. Automation in the assembly line has also been almost doubled to 28%.
