VW – Page 3384 – I wish I had more to offer

Porsche Consulting: Weber’s aftersales service pleases customers

08/20/2019 Small parts—big results: The grill maker delights its customers with premium service. Hans-Jürgen Herr selects his company’s own “grill oasis” for the photo. It might also be called the company’s test lab. This terrace on the eighth floor of a building in the center of Berlin has a number of smoking charcoal grills. It… Continue reading Porsche Consulting: Weber’s aftersales service pleases customers

Reality check: CHAdeMO fast-charging stations still outnumber CCS ones

Five years ago, a frequent matter of debate here at Green Car Reports was whether CCS or ChAdeMO would become the electric-car DC fast-charging standard of choice in the U.S.

Soon after that it became quite clear that CCS, with the weight of the European and U.S. auto industry behind it—and then the Korean industry joining later—was going to win.

And yet today, when you look at the actual numbers, as tallied by the U.S. government’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, you’ll find that even now, in the second half of 2019, there are still more places to fast-charge CHAdeMO vehicles than those with CCS.

CHAdeMO, CCS, and Supercharger – Alternative Fuels Data Center, Aug. 20, 2019

As of August 20, 2019, there are 2,140 charging stations and 3,010 connectors with CHAdeMO fast charging. CCS still lags behind CHAdeMO in the number of stations by more than 250, while it has about 500 more connectors. And Tesla has 678 Supercharger locations with 6,340 connectors. The Nissan Leaf lineup is the only one still on the market to primarily use the CHAdeMO standard.

When the first Combined Charging System (CCS) fast charging station finally arrived in the U.S. in October 2013, it was a couple of years behind the rollout of stations using the CHAdeMO standard championed by Japanese automakers and more than a year behind the first Tesla Superchargers.

In 2014 and 2015, Europe stormed ahead with CCS fast-charging infrastructure, and essentially moved to make it the dominant standard, while the U.S. lagged behind in deploying the hardware.

Chevrolet Spark EV at CCS fast charging station in San Diego.

Although the 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV was the first model available in the U.S. with CCS, GM stubbornly maintained that it wouldn’t fund CCS fast-charging sites for its Chevrolet Bolt. Meanwhile, Nissan helped subsidize the growth of a CHAdeMO network. So had early federal and state funding to build “electric highways” with carefully spaced fast chargers, that had been approved (and in some cases completed) before CCS even existed.

Part of the reason why CCS hasn’t gained ground is that, as called out in the Partial Consent Decree of the Volkswagen diesel settlement, Electrify America has to future-proof its stations by operating across different charging standards. Therefore, all public-facing fast chargers will include a CHAdeMO connector—just one, in most cases, running at 50 kw instead of the CCS connectors’ 150 kw or 350 kw.

It’s unlikely that CCS will take the lead for stations/locations this decade. Nationally, Electrify America’s Cycle 2 plan anticipates that just 40 to 50 of about 215 new 150-kw and 350-kw DC fast chargers will be operational by the end of 2019. Meanwhile, under an EVgo plan to install more 100-kw CHAdeMO hardware—jointly announced with Nissan earlier this month, will keep nudging both ahead, as that hardware will also be CCS-compatible.

Tesla Model S with CHAdeMO adapter

U.S. Tesla drivers also can opt for a CHAdeMO adapter, for access to those stations, which tend to be better-located for urban and suburban charging—as opposed to Tesla’s chargers, which tend to be at strategic points for road-trip potential.

Tesla drivers are again the winners. If it weren’t for the terms of the diesel settlement, Nissan and others might not have kept expanding the CHAdeMO network. Add the two standards together and Tesla owners have 2,818 charging locations and 9,350 connectors.

The higher-power CCS chargers (350 kw especially) will start influencing the market more eventually. But in this era of accessibility and cross-compatibility, it's now looking like both standards will be around for a long time.

Volkswagen ID.3 Reservations Exceed 27,000

Less than 3,000 Volkswagen ID.3 1ST are left for reservation (out of 30,000 available). According to the most recent Automobil Woche article, Volkswagen has received more than 27,000 reservations for the 1ST launch edition of the Volkswagen ID.3. As the plan is to offer a limited number of 30,000 1ST, less than 3,000 (or 10%… Continue reading Volkswagen ID.3 Reservations Exceed 27,000

For diversity: Volkswagen with own truck at CSD parade in Berlin

Original Article

GM, Volkswagen Say Goodbye to Hybrid Vehicles – The Wall Street Journal

Auto makers for two decades have leaned on hybrid vehicles to help them comply with regulations on fuel consumption and give customers greener options in the showroom. Now, two of the world’s largest car manufacturers say they see no future for hybrids in their U.S. lineups. General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG are concentrating their… Continue reading GM, Volkswagen Say Goodbye to Hybrid Vehicles – The Wall Street Journal

For VW, focus groups highlight EV-adoption challenges beyond price

Volkswagen has been targeting affordability all along with its upcoming electric cars and the modular MEB platform they’re built on.

Leading up to the launch of the first models to arrive, starting with the ID 3 at the start of 2020 for Europe and a crossover for the U.S. later in 2020, VW executives haven’t stopped discussing the price points. They continue to state that once the carmaker’s global push for mass-market electric cars picks up the pace, they’ll reach price parity with comparable gasoline vehicles.

Pricing and affordability are important, but they won’t guarantee that the cars will be a success. It helps that, as VW’s U.S. CEO Scott Keogh has said to Green Car Reports, we’re at a cultural tipping point for electric cars. But dealer education, marketing, and advertising will be crucial parts of the rollout, too—as will addressing some common misconceptions that persist.

At the CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Michigan earlier this month, Reinhard Fischer, the Volkswagen Group senior VP overseeing VW in North America, spoke to Automotive News about some of the issues it’s seen at recent focus groups.

One of them, for instance, is a fear of driving electric cars through water, and the idea that electricity and water don’t mix.

More seriously, perhaps, Fischer mentioned the issue of charging accessibility, noting that “range anxiety has now been replaced by charging anxiety.”

“A hundred years ago, gasoline was sold at pharmacies,” said Fischer. “Today, we have 122,000 gas stations in the United States. It's transformed from a bottleneck to a commodity.”

Teaser for 2020 Volkswagen ID 3 debuting at 2019 Frankfurt auto show

As funded by the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement, Electrify America will play a part in that, deploying more than 2,000 fast chargers at nearly 500 U.S. locations by the end of 2019.

Provided those other issues are addressed, so will price. VW plans to price its first EVs at a slight premium to gasoline—much like it did with diesel. While the exact numbers haven’t been revealed for the U.S., the carmaker says that launch edition ID 3 models will cost less than $44,400 (40,000 euros) in Germany, with entry versions of the ID 3 to start just below $33,300 (30,000 euros). A future, more affordable MEB model could be priced below $23,000.

Ecurie Ecosse LM69 – Creating a Modern Racing Thoroughbred

What if…? It’s a question that has dominated the history of the XJ13, a prototype built by Jaguar in 1966 in a quest to continue the marque’s legendary run of success in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Powered by a new quad-cam, 5-litre V12, the XJ13 was Jaguar’s first mid-engined car – and without doubt… Continue reading Ecurie Ecosse LM69 – Creating a Modern Racing Thoroughbred

Rumor: Sixth production-bound VW ID electric car to be previewed with LA show concept

The Volkswagen Group plans to build 27 different electric-vehicle models, across its brands, by 2022—on its way to building 10 million EVs on its upcoming MEB architecture by later in the decade. That requires quite the ramp-up of company resources, and it’s likely the brand has many more new ideas and designs to test as concept cars.

One of those new concepts is due at the Los Angeles Auto show this November. Sources at VW with knowledge of the plans have confirmed to Green Car Reports that this will foreshadow a sixth production-bound member of the ID family to wear the Volkswagen badge.

So far the ID, ID Crozz, ID Buzz, ID Vizzion, and ID Roomzz concepts are all either confirmed or strongly hinted at as being production-bound. Of those, the ID, to be called ID 3 in production, is the only one open to reservations thus far, and it won’t be sold in the U.S.

Teaser for 2020 Volkswagen ID 3 debuting at 2019 Frankfurt auto show

With a production version of the ID Crozz already confirmed for U.S. arrival in the second half of 2020, and the production (sans camo) version of the ID 3 bound for the Frankfurt motor show in September, Volkswagen could be waiting until the LA show to preview (in concept) the ID 2, a small, affordable urban crossover.

Volkswagen hasn’t yet made an official statement about or confirmed any such debut.

Volkswagen ID Buzz Concept

Volkswagen has said that its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant expansion will be ready to make electric cars in America in 2022. That also happens to be when VW intends to release the Microbus-revival ID Buzz. However, VW still has much to share in regard to which markets will get each respective vehicle and where they’ll be produced.

Online used car platform “heycar” expands internationally

BRAUNSCHWEIG, 15-Aug-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Successful online used car marketplace “heycar” expands internationally into the United Kingdom. Providing high-quality used vehicles with warranty to used car buyers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at www.heycar.co.uk. The heycar brand operates under Mobility Trader UK Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Mobility Trader UK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mobility Trader Holding GmbH and is a sister company of the German Mobility Trader GmbH. Mobility Trader Holding GmbH’s shareholders are Volkswagen Financial Services AG with 80 percent of the shares and Daimler Mobility AG with 20 percent.

Frank Fiedler, CFO of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, comments: “We are pleased that heycar has now taken the first step towards an international expansion. Following the positive reception of heycar in Germany, we now want to serve dealers and customers in the United Kingdom just as successfully and thus further expand our used car business.”

heycar brings greater transparency and trust to the used car market in the UK. Through partnerships with trusted dealers, all major automotive brands are available in heycar. All vehicles offered at heycar are less than eight years old and have done less than 100,000 miles and come with a warranty. Being the second largest used car market in Europe, United Kingdom benefits from heycar’s simpler solution to search for and find their used car, complete with a finance quote, in a seamless online journey.

Mat Moakes CEO of Mobility Trader UK Ltd, added: “The UK used car market, the second largest in Europe after Germany, works inefficiently for buyers and dealers. heycar will disrupt this industry through a simple, tech-led proposition and will take market share from the incumbents to become the number one site for high quality used cars in the UK.”

heycar starts in the UK with over 100,000 used cars from nearly 50 brands and as the company expands partnerships with dealer groups across the UK, it will continue to add more vehicles to its platform.

heycar was launched in Germany in October 2017. Currently, around 400,000 vehicles from different brands are available on the platform.

Information for editors

Volkswagen Financial Services key business fields embrace dealer and customer financing, leasing, the bank and insurance business, fleet management and mobility offers. Volkswagen Financial Services have a total of 16,267 employees worldwide – including 7,010 alone in Germany. Volkswagen Financial Services report total assets of around EUR 207.6 billion, an operating result of EUR 2.6 billion euros and a portfolio of around 20.3 million current contracts (as at: 31.12.2018). Volkswagen Financial Services is a business division of the Volkswagen AG group of companies and comprise Volkswagen Financial Services AG along with its associated companies, Volkswagen Bank GmbH, Porsche Financial Services, and the financial services companies in the USA and Canada that belong directly or indirectly to Volkswagen AG – with the exception of the financial services of the Scania brand and Porsche Holding Salzburg.

For press information:

Marc Siedler (Press spokesman)
Phone: + 49 (0)531 / 212-87675
E-Mail: marc.siedler@vwfs.com
www.vwfs.com

SOURCE: Volkswagen Financial Services

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A drive in the park for Bugatti

The 50 acres of Parco del Valentino still resonate from the engine noises of the cars that used to race on the roads of the park over 70 years ago. Italy is well-known for its automotive heritage as well as its passion for sports cars. Turin has always played a crucial role for the Italian… Continue reading A drive in the park for Bugatti