Volkswagen electric car plans pick up pace with battery deal and model launches
CNNLondon CNN Business — Volkswagen is picking up the pace in its bid to dominate the auto industry’s electric future. The German company said production of lithium-ion batteries would begin in late 2023 or early 2024, a move that will be vital to Volkswagen’s ability to mount what it calls “the largest electric offensive in the automotive industry worldwide.” The group plans to launch almost 70 new electric models in the next decade,and hopes to build 22 million electric cars over this period. Volkswagen also confirmed that production of the new ID.3 electric car series would begin this November, with the first models delivered to customers next year. A new production plant Alongside investing in battery production, Volkswagen is pouring €1.2 billion into overhauling its Zwickau vehicle plant, which formerly produced internal combustion engines, so that it can make electric cars. By 2021, the plant is expected to produce 330,000 vehicles per year, making it Europe’s “largest and most efficient electric vehicle plant,” according to Volkswagen.