Volkswagen to Expand Plant in Tennessee for Their Upcoming EV Onslaught
German automaker Volkswagen will invest USD$800 million in their existing facility in Chattanooga in order to build electric vehicles for the North-American market. According to the company, this expansion will create 1,000 additional jobs at the plan and more for outside suppliers.
“The US is one of the most important locations for us and producing electric cars in Chattanooga is a key part of our growth strategy in North America,” said Volkswagen AG CEO Dr. Herbert Diess.
- Also: Volkswagen I.D. BUZZ Concept: Creating what its Name Suggests
- Also: The New I.D. CROZZ: A Prelude to Volkswagen’s First Electric SUV
The brand’s first electric vehicles based on its new MEB platform will go on sale on our market in 2020, but production of these vehicles in Tennessee won’t begin before 2022. In the meantime, vehicles will likely by shipped to North America from Volkswagen’s EV production facility in Zwickau, Germany, scheduled to start cranking out cars by the end of 2019. The company will also set up more EV assembly plants in China and in Germany within the next few years.
The first model of Volkswagen’s I.D. electric vehicle family will be a production version of the I.D. CROZZ concept SUV. The company will then launch a multipurpose vehicle based on the I.D. BUZZ concept. The Volkswagen brand expects to sell 150,000 EVs worldwide by 2020 and one million units by 2025.
