- The Volkswagen Group has reached a major milestone in its electrification journey, after the five millionth electric drive unit rolled off the production line this month.
- These motors have provided for all-electric vehicles right across the Volkswagen Group, for brands such as Volkswagen, Skoda, Cupra, Audi, and more.
- A significant proportion of this total production took place last year, highlighting the strong rise in demand for electric drive units.
Volkswagen reaches production milestone for its electric motors
Five million electric drive units produced is a significant milestone for the Volkswagen Group, and comes from its four electric motor factories located across Hungary, Germany, and China. One plant alone, in Kassel, Germany, produced 850,000 units just last year.
Currently, the most popular drive unit produced within the group is the AP550. Over one million examples of this unit have been produced at present, which have all been produced at the group’s Kassel facility in Germany. The motor can be found in some of the most popular EVs within the Volkswagen Group portfolio, such as the Volkswagen ID. lineup, the Skoda Enyaq, and CUPRA Tavascan.
Moving forward, and looking towards the group’s incoming lineup of more affordable compact EVs, the group will also introduce the new APP290 drive unit. This introduces silicon carbide as a semiconductor material within the motor, delivering improved performance and improved range. We’ll see this motor roll out very soon, once cars within the Electric Urban Car Family such as the Volkswagen ID. Polo and Skoda Epiq launch later this year.
Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board of Management member for Technology, commented:
“Producing five million electric drives is a milestone that underscores Volkswagen’s lead in both the ICE and the BEV segments. Our global development and production network allows us to master all aspects of the electric drivetrain, accelerate innovation and ensure outstanding quality. In developing our first pulse inverter in-house, we are building up additional expertise and taking the “brain” that controls the electric drive unit into our own hands. This not only safeguards high performance for our customers but also reinforces the technological sovereignty of the Volkswagen Group.”
