Volkswagen setting off into the E-era

Volume carmaker Volkswagen has started series production of its ID.3 electric car. The ID.3 is the first model from this manufacturer to be designed from scratch as an electric car. With the move, the manufacturer hopes to lead electromobility out of the market niche and establish it as standard in the automobile market.

The liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery is charged via an onboard charger with a maximum output of 11 kW. The maximum output at CCS charging stations will initially be 100 kW; later all variants of the car will also be able to be charged at 125 kW.

The electronics in the vehicle run under VW's own software environment called VW.OS, which however is more than just a normal operating system. VW.OS is a software platform for all ECUs. The IT architecture is based on a few domain computers with a uniform programming language. VW.OS will gradually be used in all vehicles of the VW Group (Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen), and the software basis will also be placed on a uniform basis. The entire electronics (driver assistance systems, engine controls, head unit, etc.) are connected to the backend system Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, which is based on Microsoft Azure.

The ID.3 is Volkswagen's first vehicle using
the vw.os software platform that later will
power all Volkswagen group cars.

Volkswagen has invested 1.2 billion euros in the production of the ID.3 and completely rebuilt its plant in Zwickau (Saxony). 8000 employees and 1700 robots are to build the ID.3 and other electric models of the Volkswagen Group there in the coming years.