Between July 25 and August 12, the Volkswagen plant in Emden will undergo a new but historic shutdown on some of its lines, which will experience a transformation. Starting today, the legendary Passat will no longer be produced, giving way to an electric car, the ID. Aero.
This means that starting next year, in addition to the ID.4, the plant in Lower Saxony will also house the electric sedan, on whose production lines a total of 1,600 employees are already working to have everything ready for the start of production of the ID. AERO next year.
At the same time, the Volkswagen technicians take advantage of this summer break to optimize the production processes of the ID.4, which will see how its lines are optimized and its capacity increased for the second half of the year.
According to Manfred Wulff, chairman of the works council: “ We have had eight successive generations of Passats over 45 years. They shaped our factory and East Friesland. With the company vacation, we say goodbye to the Passat, which has given us a lot of work and security over the years and decades since the summer of 1977 in East Friesland. Now with the ID.4 and from 2023 exclusively with the ID. AERO, as the electric successor to the Passat, continues the success story of our plant. A big thank you from the works council to all those who postponed their company vacations and continue to improve processes with the ID.4 and continue to prepare the plant for the start-up and commissioning of the ID.AERO. «
To get everything ready, extensive adjustments are being made to the production of this model that will use the MEB platform, especially in bodybuilding, the paint shop, and assembly, all to optimize processes and implement improvements in the flow of goods. worked.
In addition to optimizing cycle times in conveying technology, this also includes the integration of “JIS” conveying technology in Hall 20. The “just-in-sequence” process ensures that the required parts are not only delivered at the right time, but also in the right order on the line, with the aim that after the summer the first units of these lines begin to leave, and have everything ready in this way for deliveries at the beginning of 2023.
The result of these works will be a very aerodynamic sedan that will come with an attractive design that goes out of the line of both SUVs and tall sedans that are placed halfway.
Approved for five passengers, this almost 5-meter-long sedan will sit on the MEB modular platform, with the version presented a few days ago having a 77 kWh battery, thanks to which it reaches a range of 620 km WLTP. Something that allows it to exceed the figures achieved by the ID.3 itself, smaller and lighter but without the aerodynamics of the Aero.
A substitute for the Passat that on paper will shine enough to convince customers of the sedan, and attract new buyers, all of course if it manages to offer a round set where we also find a competent fast charge, and a price as successful as possible.
