Volkswagen Unveiling New MEB Platform EV At Paris Motor Show — Range “Up To” 600 Kilometers (373 Miles)

September 19th, 2016 by James Ayre

The upcoming Paris Motor Show will play host to the unveiling of a new Volkswagen MEB platform electric vehicle with a range of “up to” 600 kilometers (~373 miles) per full charge, according to recent reports.

This long-range electric vehicle (EV) will reportedly reveal something about the company’s first MEB EV, which will reportedly be released around 2020 or so.

Commenting on the new EV concept, Jürgen Stackmann, a member of the VW Board of Management, stated: “We want to use Paris, basically, as the lighthouse to show you where we are heading as a brand. There are so many tremendous things happening at VW at the moment. We are taking big, bold decisions fast to really get the brand moving and we are excited to show you the first glimpse of that at the Paris Motor Show.”

Rather fluffy talk, but perhaps something interesting will be revealed at the show. Or perhaps not.





As noted by Autoblog, the new head of VW’s BEV series group (as of January), Christian Senger, has previously stated emphatically that, “VW’s new production EVs will use the upcoming MEB platform. MEB is the German acronym for Modular Electric Model line-up, and the platform will be used with wide number of EVs. The MEB platform is built around the battery, and with the wheelbase increased and the overhangs shortened, interior design space is opened up. According to Senger’s vision, he imagines a large HD display, haptic feedback, and gesture controls as part of the package.”

In his own words: “The car of tomorrow must feel like a mobile device on wheels.”

Senger went far beyond Elon Musk’s claim that the minimum range an EV should have is 200 miles, arguing that the minimum people will actually accept is 400 kilometers, or ~250 miles. Of course, that could be in reference to the overly generous NEDC, which would make the real-world range probably lower than 200 miles. Senger added drivers of the Volkswagen e-Golf contend they don’t need more range (the e-Golf has only miles of range) and that they don’t need fast charging for highway trips, but that’s all because they use their e-Golfs as city cars, not as cars for road trips or such.

Senger argues that VW can’t be an EV leader just selling second cars to households. With plans to sell 2–3 million electric cars a year by 2025, the aims seem clear, and Senger is probably right that VW needs to stand out with a variety of long-range electric vehicles.

As a reminder here, the Paris Motor Show begins on October 1st.











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