Volkswagen has declared war on Tesla with the announcement that its Zwickau manufacturing plant in Germany will be transformed into Europe's biggest electric car factory with an annual production capacity of up to 330,000 vehicles per year.

The German carmaker is investing a whopping 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) to convert the factory for EV manufacturing, with the ID Neo hatchback being the first model to roll off the production line in November 2019. That's only a year away, but Volkswagen has little time to lose as Tesla continues to dominate the EV segment. The Zwickau plant is currently used to build the VW Golf and Golf Estate.