Published: January 17, 2020, 8:35 AM
Updated: January 25, 2020, 2:29 AM
Volkswagen's Electric Future at the Petersen Automotive Museum
Volkswagen has one of the industry’s most ambitious electric vehicle plans, targeting up to 70 electric models and sales of 22 million EVs by 2028, and it wants everyone to know about it. To that end, VW has collaborated with the Petersen Automotive Museum to present a multifaceted display on Building the Electric Future.
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Volkswagen's Electric Future at the Petersen Automotive Museum
At the core of the exhibit is the production of VW's first mass-produced electric vehicle, the ID.3, which may be considered as an ideological successor to the Beetle.
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Volkswagen XL Sport
Before going fully electric, back in 2013 Volkswagen built a small number of hybrid-diesel-electric XL1 coupes, sold only in Europe. Extremely light in weight and aerodynamic in form, they achieved exceptionally low fuel consumption of 0.9 l/100 km, with CO2 emissions of just 21 g/km and an electric-only range of 50 km. This XL Sport model in the Petersen exhibit was a one-off derivative of the XL1.
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Volkswagen XL Sport
The XL Sport was a Ducati superbike-engined sports-car iteration of the XL1, unveiled on the eve of the 2014 Paris auto show as the 200 millionth car produced by the Volkswagen Group. Contributing to its exceptional efficiency, it boasted an impressively low Cd of just 0.258.
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Volkswagen I.D. Vizzion
More recently, the I.D. Vizzion concept introduced Volkswagen's commitment to an electric future and its I.D. series of concept and production cars at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show. The Vizzion featured front and rear electric motors and all-wheel-drive.
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Volkswagen I.D. R Electric Prototype Race Car
To promote its electric expertise, Volkswagen also built an unlimited electric prototype race car, the I.D. R, seen here in model form.
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Volkswagen I.D. R Electric Prototype Race Car
The actual I.D. R subsequently set speed records at such divergent locales as the Nurburgring, Goodwood and Pikes Peak, proving to te world the performance potential of electric vehicles.
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Volkswagen I.D. R Electric Prototype Race Car
The I.D. R is front and centre in the electric vehicle display at the Petersen.
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Volkswagen ID.3 unveiling
The culmination of all Volkswagen's electric research and development was the public introduction of the production ID.3 at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show.
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Volkswagen ID.3
Although it won't be sold in North America, the ID.3 is already in production at Zwickau, Germany and on sale in Europe.
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Volkswagen ID. Family Production
The Petersen exhibit includes details about the Volkswagen ID. Family's state-of-the-art production facilities.
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Volkswagen MEB platform
At the core of all ID. family derivatives is the Volkswagen MEB platform, which features a battery pack mounted between the front and rear wheels and beneath the passenger compartment floorboard.
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Volkswagen MEB Battery Pack
Common to all MEB platform derivatives is the battery pack, which will be available in different sizes, depending on specific application.
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ID.3 Body/Chassis Combination
This body-drop exhibit at the Petersen illustrates how the ID.3 body and MEB chassis fit together.
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MEB Chassis
The MEB chassis is designed to accommodate multiple models in addition to the ID.3, including the ID.Crozz, a modern interpretation of the minibus, which is expected to be sold in North America.
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MEB Front Motor
While the ID.3 will initially be rear-wheel-drive, with a single rear-mounted electric motor, this chassis clearly incorporates a front motor driving the front wheels as well.
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MEB Rear Motor
This angle shows the location of the rear-mounted electric motor.
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Volkswagen ID.3 Production Models
These are Volkswagen ID.3 models without camouflage, as they will be sold in Europe.
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