Volkswagen Breaks Ground on Expanded US EV Production

Expanded EV Production at Chattanooga site begins in 2022, Volkswagen’s North American assembly base for electric vehicles.

Volkswagen of America today marked the start of construction for its electric vehicle production facility at Chattanooga. The company also announced it intends to build a 198,000–square-foot plant for the assembly of battery packs for EVs at the Chattanooga site.

Volkswagen began EV production earlier this month in Zwickau, Germany, and will then roll out assembly worldwide, including in Anting and Foshan, in China, in 2020 and in the German cities of Emden and Hanover by 2022. The Chattanooga site will be VW’s North-American hub for EV manufacturing.

Volkswagen’s investment of about $800 million in the Chattanooga facility will add ~1,000 jobs. The production version of the ID. CROZZ will initially be assembled in Zwickau. Production of that vehicle is set to begin in Chattanooga in 2022.

The expansion of the plant includes a 564,000-square-foot addition to the body shop. Volkswagen will build both internal combustion engine vehicles as well as battery electric vehicles on the same assembly line.

 Volkswagen Group of America executives joined Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Germany’s ambassador to the U.S., Emily Haber, plant leaders, production employees and community leaders at the plant for the groundbreaking.

Volkswagen currently builds the midsize Atlas SUV and the Passat sedan at the Chattanooga factory. A five-seat version of the Atlas, the Atlas Cross Sport, began production in Chattanooga in October. It goes on sale early next year.

Volkswagen Chattanooga

The Volkswagen Chattanooga manufacturing facility began production in April 2011. It currently assembles the Volkswagen Passat, a midsize sedan, and the Volkswagen Atlas, a midsize sport utility vehicle. In March 2018, Volkswagen Chattanooga was announced as the production home of a five-seat SUV. In January 2019, Volkswagen Chattanooga was announced as Volkswagen’s North American base for manufacturing electric vehicles, representing an $800 million investment. Volkswagen Chattanooga currently employs approximately 3,800 team members. The facility is certified to international standards for energy management (ISO 50001), environmental management (ISO 14001) and quality management (ISO 9001).