Volkswagen is confident it can deliver an affordable EV (sub-$27K) and profitably
The German automaker’s chief financial officer believes the Volkswagen Group will be able to deliver an affordable EV with new, cheaper battery materials and streamlined production.
To accelerate EV production and maintain its position as a market leader, VW revealed a nearly $200 billion (€180 billion) investment in March.
With a significant portion (68%) dedicated to electrification and digitalization, Volkswagen plans to cut costs to drive profits while enabling them to build cheaper EV models.
A big focus is on battery technology. VW is working with unified battery cell tech that they claim has the potential to lower costs by up to 50%.
Volkswagen revealed the ID 2all concept in March to showcase its intentions, with a starting price under $27K (€25,000). The affordable EV has as much space as the VW Golf with the price of a Polo model.
Riding on VW’s next-gen MEB entry platform, the ID 2all will feature “particularly efficient drive, battery and charging technology.”
Although Volkswagen has yet to release the full specs, the EV will feature an electric motor with 166 kW (222 hp) and a calculated WLTP range of around 450 km (279 mi). It will also be able to charge to 80% in under 20 minutes.
CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Thomas Schafer, said, “The ID 2all shows where we want to take the brand” with improved designs and top-tier technology for an affordable price.
More recently, Volkswagen Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz told Autocar he is confident the automaker will be able to deliver cars at this price point, pointing to cheaper battery materials and manufacturing.
Volkswagen building an even more affordable EV, the ID 1
Antiliz said, “For the time being, we’re quite confident that we can achieve that price point,” adding:
There are a lot of innovations coming on the technical side. This car will have the first in-house battery cells from our Valencia plant. We’re just ramping up. We will have much more scale by then.
Looking at Nickel and Lithium prices coming down, Antiliz said the firm is seeing the relief in raw material costs, as he claimed:
So from this perspective, we’re quite confident that we can achieve that €25,000 [£22,500] target and, at the same time, have a decent margin.
Although his comments were aimed at the ID 2all EV, the report notes these developments could result in an even more affordable EV model, the ID 1.
Shafer told Autocar in March that the Polo is one of its most successful models and “we’re going to use that vehicle concept in the future as well.” The ID 1 electric car is expected to start around $20,000 (€17,000) as its smallest, cheapest VW brand EV so far. However, no other information has been released about the model.
After EVs accounted for a record 7% share of total deliveries last year, Volkswagen hit a milestone, producing its one millionth electric vehicle based on its MEB platform last week.
Electrek’s Take
Since Volkswagen revealed plans for an affordable EV, several automakers have followed suit. Stellantis is expected to release a low-cost (sub-$27,000) electric model through the Citroën brand next year, called the Citroën e-C3 city car.
Meanwhile, Hyundai’s sister company Kia plans to build “small and mid-size EVs” from 2025, including an entry-level EV (presumably called the EV1).
And let’s not forget Volvo’s recently unveiled EX30, starting at $35K, due out next year as its smallest and cheapest EV. Those of you holding out for cheaper electric models, they are on the way.
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British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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