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volkswagen

Volkswagen and Uber partner to launch autonomous vehicles in the US

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Volkswagen Group of America’s autonomous mobility subsidiary, Volkswagen ADMT, and Uber Technologies, have agreed a strategic partnership to deploy a fleet of thousands of all-electric, fully autonomous ID Buzz AD vehicles within multiple US markets over the next decade, starting in Los Angeles.

Testing is expected to begin later this year, with the first commercial launch expected in Los Angeles in 2026.

During the initial testing and launch phases, ID Buzz AD vehicles will have human operators onboard to help refine the technology and ensure safety. Each step will proceed only after any necessary regulatory approvals have been received. [Read more…] about Volkswagen and Uber partner to launch autonomous vehicles in the US

Volkswagen orders ‘more than 700’ industrial robots from Kuka

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Kuka, the industrial robotics and automation specialist, and Volkswagen, one of Germany’s largest automotive groups, have signed a framework agreement for the delivery of more than 700 robots this year and over the next two years.

The robot models, including the Kuka bestseller KR Quantec, will be installed at Volkswagen Navarra in Pamplona, Northern Spain. There they will be used in body-in-white production. Volkswagen is investing further in European automobile production. [Read more…] about Volkswagen orders ‘more than 700’ industrial robots from Kuka

Volkswagen enters global electric vehicle battery business

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Volkswagen has broken ground for its first battery production factory in Salzgitter, Germany last week in the presence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Production will start in 2025. With immediate effect, responsibility for global battery business is to be held by the newly created company “PowerCo”. In addition to cell production, the new company will be responsible for activities along the entire battery value chain.

Up to 2030, PowerCo is to invest more than €20 billion together with partners in the development of the business area, to generate annual sales in excess of €20 billion and to employ up to 20,000 people in Europe alone. [Read more…] about Volkswagen enters global electric vehicle battery business

Volkswagen to design its own chips for autonomous vehicles

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Automotive giant Volkswagen is planning to design its own chips for autonomous vehicles, according to a report in German newspaper, Handelsblatt.

VW’s CEO, Herbert Diess, is said to have “ordered” the company to “launch the next revolution after electromobility”, and Handelsblatt says that Diess “wants to create the fully networked and self-steering vehicle with its own processor”.

Diess told Handelsblatt: “To achieve optimal performance in light of the high demands that exist for cars, software and hardware have to come out of one hand.” [Read more…] about Volkswagen to design its own chips for autonomous vehicles

Volkswagen expands production of battery systems

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The Volkswagen Group Components plant in Braunschweig is significantly expanding its production of battery systems for the latest electric vehicle generation. Following the first expansion stage with a maximum capacity of 250,000 battery systems, the second expansion stage has started up with the same capacity.

This means that once the site is fully ramped up it will now be able to fit up to 500,000 batteries a year for models based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) – in this case for the fully electric Volkswagen ID.31 and ID.42, as well as the Škoda Enyaq iV3, which should soon be quietly and powerfully cruising the streets of Europe with a battery heart from Braunschweig.

In addition to that, up to 100,000 battery systems for the beloved models e-up!4, SEAT Mii electric5, Škoda Citigoe iV6 and as well as for hybrid vehicles such as the Volkswagen Golf GTE7. [Read more…] about Volkswagen expands production of battery systems

VW partners with Microsoft to build computing platform for autonomous vehicles

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Volkswagen says it is further strengthening its capabilities in the development of autonomous or highly automated driving (AD) solutions with a new partnership with Microsoft.

The Group’s software company Car.Software Organisation will collaborate with Microsoft to build a cloud-based Automated Driving Platform (ADP) on Microsoft Azure and leverage its compute and data capabilities to deliver automated driving experiences even faster at global scale.

With ADP running on Azure, Car.Software Organisation will increase the efficiency of the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and AD functions for passenger cars across Volkswagen Group brands. [Read more…] about VW partners with Microsoft to build computing platform for autonomous vehicles

VW electric vehicle sales increase more than 400 percent

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Volkswagen’s electric vehicle sales have increased more than 400 percent over the past year, according to the German auto giant’s latest figures.

The Volkswagen Group says its “e-offensive is gaining traction”. Deliveries of electric models in the EU including the UK, Norway and Iceland increased “more than fourfold in the year now ended to a total of 315,400 electric vehicles (2019: 72,600)”.

The proportion of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in-hybrids (PHEVs) in the total deliveries rose to 9.7 percent (2019: 1.7 percent). [Read more…] about VW electric vehicle sales increase more than 400 percent

Volkswagen orders staggering 800 ABB robots to build its new electric vehicles

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ABB has received a massive order for 800 industrial robots from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to support production of a new generation of electric vehicles at its plant in Hannover, Germany.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is modernizing its Hannover factory and is installing state-of-the-art facilities to build the all-electric ID.

Buzz van, which will begin production in 2022. ABB’s robots will be installed in the body shop to undertake a range of body construction tasks. [Read more…] about Volkswagen orders staggering 800 ABB robots to build its new electric vehicles

Volkswagen opens up its ‘Industrial Cloud’ to other manufacturing and technology companies

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Volkswagen, together with Amazon Web Services and integration partner Siemens, is opening up its Industrial Cloud to other manufacturing and technology companies.

New partner companies will be able to connect with Volkswagen plants and to contribute their own software applications for optimizing production processes to the Industrial Cloud.

VW says the opening up of the platform will help create “a rapidly growing range of industrial software applications for Volkswagen’s plants”. [Read more…] about Volkswagen opens up its ‘Industrial Cloud’ to other manufacturing and technology companies

Siemens provides its expertise to Volkswagen to develop digitized electric car production

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Volkswagen’s first new generation electric car is being built with Siemens automation and digitalization technologies.

The two companies say they are developing a standard for the upcoming Volkswagen electric car generation.

Volkswagen aims to increase the degree of automation in the body shop to 89 percent and to 28 percent in final assembly. [Read more…] about Siemens provides its expertise to Volkswagen to develop digitized electric car production