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Automakers’ headlong rush into electrification continues partially based on hope numerous customers will ultimately appear, and more importantly backed by increasingly strong government interference in the market against conventional vehicles. In the latest brick and mortar bet, Volkswagen Group China is preparing for what in theory should be the world’s biggest market for e-mobility.
The VW Group’s first factory specifically designed for the so-called MEB platform (it’s a modular EV drive adaptable to multiple models) is now under construction in Anting. The first vehicle that will be produced in the factory of SAIC Volkswagen is a Volkswagen Brand SUV in 2020. Together with the FAW-Volkswagen factory in Foshan, which opened this summer, SAIC Volkswagen’s plant will begin to produce e-cars on the MEB platform directly after the first worldwide MEB-production starts in Zwickau, Germany.
SAIC Volkswagen’s new factory, located in Anting, Shanghai, adopts a production network based on Industry 4.0 and increases automation rates and efficiency. The facility comes equipped with more than 1400 Industry 4.0 standard robots, as well as a range of technologies including AI, AR and VR, delivering an intelligent and digitalized production plant. Covering 610,000 square meters, the plant for new energy vehicles (NEV) includes a variety of different functional areas such as pressing equipment and battery assembly workshops, in addition to an elevated stereoscopic warehouse, a proving road and more. Meanwhile, it utilizes 27 types of environmentally-friendly technologies with a special focus on water preservation, energy saving and the reduction of carbon dioxide.
The facility is scheduled to be put into production by 2020 with a planned annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. It will produce various new pure-electric vehicles of SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, including medium and large sized pure electric SUVs, as well as battery systems. The first vehicle being built is a MEB-SUV from the Volkswagen brand. The factory will be supporting the Volkswagen Group’s e-mobility strategy in China.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Volkswagen Group China Builds First Factory for EV Modules
Click to Enlarge.
Automakers’ headlong rush into electrification continues partially based on hope numerous customers will ultimately appear, and more importantly backed by increasingly strong government interference in the market against conventional vehicles. In the latest brick and mortar bet, Volkswagen Group China is preparing for what in theory should be the world’s biggest market for e-mobility.
The VW Group’s first factory specifically designed for the so-called MEB platform (it’s a modular EV drive adaptable to multiple models) is now under construction in Anting. The first vehicle that will be produced in the factory of SAIC Volkswagen is a Volkswagen Brand SUV in 2020. Together with the FAW-Volkswagen factory in Foshan, which opened this summer, SAIC Volkswagen’s plant will begin to produce e-cars on the MEB platform directly after the first worldwide MEB-production starts in Zwickau, Germany.
SAIC Volkswagen’s new factory, located in Anting, Shanghai, adopts a production network based on Industry 4.0 and increases automation rates and efficiency. The facility comes equipped with more than 1400 Industry 4.0 standard robots, as well as a range of technologies including AI, AR and VR, delivering an intelligent and digitalized production plant. Covering 610,000 square meters, the plant for new energy vehicles (NEV) includes a variety of different functional areas such as pressing equipment and battery assembly workshops, in addition to an elevated stereoscopic warehouse, a proving road and more. Meanwhile, it utilizes 27 types of environmentally-friendly technologies with a special focus on water preservation, energy saving and the reduction of carbon dioxide.
The facility is scheduled to be put into production by 2020 with a planned annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. It will produce various new pure-electric vehicles of SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, including medium and large sized pure electric SUVs, as well as battery systems. The first vehicle being built is a MEB-SUV from the Volkswagen brand. The factory will be supporting the Volkswagen Group’s e-mobility strategy in China.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.