VW Group aspires to lead electric mobility. Volkswagen Group Technology is the core technology provider for electric vehicles of the Volkswagen Group. In the case of the ID.71, Volkswagen’s new flagship, the division contributes around 40 percent of the total added value, including a completely new and highly efficient electric drive generation.
This was announced by Thomas Schmall, Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management and Technology Council, at the Vienna Motor Symposium 2023. Since September 2020, Volkswagen Group Technology has already equipped more than 580,000 Group MEB vehicles with high-tech components, making it one of the world’s largest providers of electric mobility.
Thomas Schmall, Member of the Volkswagen Group Board of Management and Technology Council: “Our goal is to be the technology leader, including in electric mobility. That’s why we focus on scalability, competitive vertical integration, and expanding our extensive internal competencies.
In doing so, we draw on our decades of experience in the development of competitive and technologically advanced components for combustion technology. And in our solid position in electric mobility, which we have been consolidating successively in recent years.»
New high-efficiency APP550 electric propulsion unit
In the ID.71, the completely new and highly efficient powertrain generation debuted under the internal designation APP550. Characterized by higher performance and improved efficiency.
Technically, the unit is based, among other things, on an improved stator with a higher effective number of coils and a larger cross section of the wires. The rotor, for its part, is equipped with more powerful and resistant permanent magnets. The use of special electrical sheets and new machining processes also ensures an optimized system with higher efficiency.
The new unit has been developed in collaboration with the Volkswagen Touring Cars Technical Development department and will also be used in other MEB models in the future. Production takes place in the technology center of the Volkswagen Group in Kassel. Kassel is the Group-wide competence center for the electric drive system and already has some 15 years of experience in the development of electric drives.
In addition to the electric drive, Volkswagen Group Technology develops and produces a whole series of technological components for the MEB models of the Group brands. The plants in Braunschweig, Kassel, Salzgitter and Hannover supply the battery system, the axle system and the chassis.
Outlook: Next Generation Complete Drive System
Volkswagen Group Technology is currently working with Volkswagen Passenger Cars on the electric drive system of the future. For this, Volkswagen is taking care of other components and is also developing the inverter itself and thermal management. The first inverter “designed by Volkswagen” is currently being developed for series production and can already be used with the next generation MEB.
Thanks to the modular principle, the entire range will be possible in the future, from basic engines to sports cars with 500 kW and more power. The Volkswagen powertrain offers considerable advantages in terms of cost and efficiency: the optimal combination of the various components enables efficiency increases of up to 20%.
Volkswagen Group Technology brings together the Group-wide activities in the areas of batteries, charging and electronics and supports the brands as a Group-wide technology provider. Subsidiaries PowerCo (batteries) and Elli (charging and power) are also connected.
The high-tech portfolio includes the unitized cell, which will be produced by PowerCo from 2025 and will mark a new milestone in battery technology. The division also includes the platform business, which includes cooperation with external partners such as Ford and Mahindra. VW Group aspires to lead electric mobility.
1 ID.7 – Near production concept vehicle. The vehicle has not yet gone on sale.
The entry VW Group aims to lead electric mobility was published first in Ecology and Environment News.