Volkswagen had previously announced plans to release as many as 30 new all-electric auto models over the next 10 years, and it hopes to see EV production rates climb to between 2 million and 3 million cars per year during that span.
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The new EV will debut in prototype form in Paris soon and the big news here is the driving range that VW is claiming. This is in response to last year’s Dieselgate scandal, which has forced VW to change public perception of the brand.
Volkswagen CEO Hebert Diess spoke to German magazine Wirtschafts Woche and said that the upcoming EV will have a range somewhere between 248 to 372 miles (400 to 600 kms). He confirmed the car’s reveal date as well as a few vital statistics. The CEO also said that this auto is going to be about the same size as a VW Golf but with the cargo space of a Passat.
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With a range like that, the new Volkswagen EV could possibly be a threat to the popular Tesla models when it finally arrives. However, the American manufacturer has a history of missing delivery targets, so VW will no doubt be hoping it can get its vehicle into dealerships first. That was an interesting comment given that there have been rumors about VW planning a multi-billion euro battery factory in Germany. The American manufacturer is building a huge factory in the desert in Arizona to build batteries, since global production wouldn’t meet its needs. Labeled as a ‘near-production prototype, ‘ the auto is going to be cooked up quite a bit, because the actual production version won’t show up until late 2018 and then become available across various markets in 2019.
