Currently reading: VW's 2019 electric vehicle for Paris motor show reveal

Volkswagen looks to “make a statement” with a new electric model which will be capable of travelling more than 300 miles on a single, 15-minute charge

Volkswagen's first pure-electric model will be revealed at the Paris motor show next month, VW chairman Herbert Diess has revealed.

Speaking to German magazine WirtschaftWoche (Industry and Economy Week), Diess said the car will have the exterior dimensions of a Volkswagen Golf but the same interior space as a Volkswagen Passat. Following the car's debut as a prototype at the Paris motor show, it should be launched officially in late 2018 or early 2019. 

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A Volkswagen spokesman couldn't further comment and is waiting on official confirmation of the model's presence at the show. No further details of the car have been revealed by Diess. 

VW Group CEO Matthias Müller has confirmed that Volkswagen’s leading engineers have been challenged to create an electric car that can be as iconic as the Volkswagen Golf and offer a 500km (310-mile) range while having a charge time of 15 minutes and costing less than a conventionally engined car.

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Müller first revealed the plan on the eve of the Geneva motor show, but despite reports suggesting the car could be launched by 2019, he only confirmed a 2025 target. "Nobody can say when it will be a reality, but we are working on it," said Müller. Asked whether it would be enough to take leadership in electric cars, he said: "We have to do our homework. I will not comment on rivals but after that homework we will see who is first, second and third in the race to build the best.'

The secret plan, uncovered by Autocar earlier this year, has been hatched by VW brand boss Herbert Diess as a crucial pillar in the firm’s attempts to rebuild its reputation in the wake of the emissions scandal and is described as a watershed project similar in depth to the multi-billion-pound engineering undertaking that spawned the BMW i3 at BMW, his former employer.

Diess has told Volkswagen’s engineering bosses to create “the Volkswagen for the digital age”, and the top engineering talent at the firm’s Braunschweig R&D centre is already working on the new car.

Diess has challenged his team to set new benchmarks for electric performance as well as developing cutting-edge connectivity and infotainment systems and style the car so it stands out as a statement of VW’s technical capabilities.

The hand-picked team of engineers is currently defining the packaging of the new zero-emissions model, which is understood to be around 4400mm in length. That compares with the Golf’s 4255mm and suggests that it will fight for sales in the same segment while offering a unique powertrain, interior environment and look.

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“It will make a huge statement,” a senior engineer with knowledge of VW’s research and development plans revealed. “It’s planned to use cutting-edge technology but at a price that makes it attainable for the average motorist."

Autocar has been told the dedicated electric car will be the first to use the Volkswagen Group’s new MEB architecture, which has been developed specifically for electric cars.

The platform was showcased on the Budd-e MPV concept at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, with VW claiming the architecture “heralds a fundamental change in electric cars, and thus for the car in general, because the MEB throws all fossil fuel ballast of the present overboard, having been designed specifically for electric cars”.

As a result, Volkswagen says the body design, interior design, interior packaging and drive characteristics of electrically powered cars will change dramatically. 

Changes compared with current car design are said to focus on the opportunity to have a far more spacious interior in a car with a much smaller footprint, greater agility and greater connectivity opportunities. In addition, Volkswagen has targeted a significant growth in electric range through the use of compact electric motors and high-performance batteries.

Plans for the all-electric model were confirmed by Matthias Müller, who added hat the vehicle would be cheaper than equivalent models with combustion engines.

“This is the future - nobody can say when it is a reality but we are working on it,” he said.

To date, with the exception of the ultra-high-tech Volkswagen XL1, Volkswagen has concentrated its electric car developments on existing models such as the Volkswagen Up and Golf. Prior to the emissions scandal, it had been taking a cautious approach to electric car sales.

While Volkswagen is banking on a range of up to 300km (186 miles) for the next-generation Volkswagen e-Golf due in 2018, the engineering parameters for the new electric call for the 310-mile-plus range range - the same distance claimed by Porsche for the production version of its Mission-E saloon.  

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Despite the apparent parallels between the Budd-e concept and the stand-alone electric car, a key source at Volkswagen’s R&D centre said they were being developed separately, albeit off the same MEB platform.

Müller has previously confirmed that there will be 20 electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles in the VW Group’s range by 2020.

“We are using the current crisis to fundamentally realign the group,” he said. “I feel we now have the chance to build a new and better Volkswagen.”

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reckless fox 25 August 2016

3000 miles on a 15 min charge

This is ridiculous. It's obviously not the range, which Tesla can already do, but the charging time.
Tesla has a 100 kWH battery. To charge that in 15 mins requires 400kW of power, far beyond the total power supply being delivered by the grid to a domestic residence. Assuming this means at a separate supercharger network, even at an industrial 400V 3 phase supply that's 100 amps - just isn't going to happen in the exit few years, and who is going to pay for this new network. Will VW team up with Tesla?
reckless fox 25 August 2016

I meant 300 miles of course - doh!

See previous post
mpls 24 August 2016

I believe low oil prices are

I believe low oil prices are part of plan by OPEC ( Saudi) to drive out competition from higher cost producers, as well as puttng a question mark over fracking. Not only ths but also to keep the world economy under their fingers still. Wat other exports do OPEC have apart from oil. Gives them time to diverify their economy with their free money from the ground/sea.
madmac 13 February 2016

Phil R

Phil R
indeed we are getting there,thanks for those encouraging figures.The hills over my town of birth in Scotland are filled with windmills,not sheep! I do like the look of the new E Porsche sedan.I really can't get around the range ,though,could'nt get from Inverness to Ayr without a charge up.