Here friends! That answers a lot of questions! Volkswagen is...

Here friends! That answers a lot of questions! Volkswagen is only warming up! Info from 13.07.2021
The info is unfortunately in German.
https://www.electrive.net/2021/07/13/vw-strategie-2030-software-batterien-und-digitale-dienste/

Volkswagen has presented its strategy for 2030 called “New Auto”. The core of this strategy is the change to electromobility and the gradual phasing out of the combustion engine - but it goes far beyond the hardware that has long dominated.There has long been no doubt that the future of Volkswagen is electric. With the launch of the MEB platform and the “Power Day” in March at the latest, it was clear where CEO Herbert Diess was heading the Wolfsburg-based group. VW, in the future one of the largest battery users in the world, defined its own cell format - the standard cell.At the presentation of the “New Auto” strategy for 2030, CEO Diess and his top management now gave insights into how this change in the group - there is always talk of “reinvention” - should take place. Incidentally, the strategy is called “New Auto” because “because the automobile remains”, as Diess puts it: “Individual traffic will remain the most important means of transport until 2030.”While many industry experts - in the meantime also Diess himself - had predicted that entry into individual mobility would become more expensive, the VW boss has changed his stance based on the emerging developments. “The price for mobility falls below today's level,” says Diess during the strategy presentation. "At the same time, industry sales will double."How is that supposed to work? With software, batteries and digital services. The battery cell production announced at “Power Day” is intended to help increase the Group's added value in electromobility. At the strategy presentation, VW gave an update on the six European gigafactories that are to produce the standard battery cells for their own use. Gigafactory 1 is known to be operated by partner Northvolt in Skellefteå, Sweden.Chinese cell manufacturer becomes partner for SalzgitterWhile it was announced at “Power Day” that Northvolt is no longer involved in Factory 2 in Salzgitter, VW will not operate this plant alone, contrary to the March announcement. This week, the Wolfsburg-based company brought on board the Chinese partner Gotion High-Tech for Salzgitter. From 2025, unit cells for the volume segment are to be built in Salzgitter - i.e. cathodes with a high manganese content. Northvolt will build premium cells in Sweden with cathodes with a high nickel content.The third factory, previously planned for southern Europe, has the new status that it will definitely be built in Spain. VW had already campaigned for this together with Seat, since larger volumes of electric cars are to be built at the Seat Martorell plant. Here, however, the group wants shares in the announced Spanish PERTE subsidy. Officially, it is said that Volkswagen is working with a strategic partner to examine the option of building a giga factory. The production of the so-called Small BEV Family in Spain also still depends “on the general framework and state subsidies”.According to VW, point 2 for the industry change is the software. "In a world of the 'New Auto', brand differentiation will come much more from software and services," says Diess. But that also means that hardware costs and complexity should fall in the medium and long term.In the short term, however, it will probably be a bit more expensive, because at the strategy day VW also announced the de facto end of the two electric platforms MEB and PPE - even before the first PPE model, the electric Porsche Macan, even comes onto the market. VW is developing on a single group platform, the Scalable Systems Platform or SSP for short. The first vehicle is to be based on the SSP in 2026, from then on "all important future models" will be based on this platform - from 85 to 580 kW output for all models and brands, as Diess puts it. Like the MEB in cooperation with Ford, the SSP is also to be opened to other car manufacturers. How long VW will continue to operate in the transition between MEB and PPE, the group did not specify.- DISPLAY -SSP: One platform for all VW electric cars from small cars to premium SUVsVW only gave a few key data on the SSP. As Audi boss Markus Duesmann, who also heads corporate research, stated, an “800 volt flex” system is to become standard for the mechatronics platform. And by 2030, the SSP is expected to achieve more volume than the MEB and PPE combined - 40 million vehicles are to be built over the unspecified lifespan of the platform. "This shows that the economies of scale that we expect will be enormous," said Duesmann.This should be made possible by a modular concept. “We need a drastic reduction in the number of variants,” says Duesmann. “This is why SSP consists of standardized modules that can be combined with one another within certain specifications.” The Audi boss cites the number of battery packs as an example.Systems that could be reduced to eight systems across the group - from 22 systems today.The combination of modules and given platform sizes should reduce complexity by 50 percent. Nevertheless, special vehicles should be possible - within the limits indicated by Duesmann for the combination of modules so as not to increase complexity and costs again. An entry-level model from Porsche could become the sports model from VW - and yet the vehicles would still be able to differ. "We will no longer have to cover this complexity in development work, but we can still offer the variety to the customer," says Duesmann. The development work is to take place primarily in Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen is investing 800 million euros in a new development center.From 2025, the combustion margins will come under pressureComplexity is also the keyword for the combustion engine models. CEO Diess expects the market for combustion engines to decline by 20 to 30 percent in the coming years. CFO Arno Antlitz explained the consequences for the group. "We want to keep combustion engines competitive and generate stable cash flows," said Antlitz.His scenario: From 2025, the margins for combustion engines will come under pressure, as electric cars will catch up with combustion engines in terms of margin in two to three years. In order to cushion the falling combustion margins, the complexity is gradually being reduced - fewer engine-gearbox combinations, fewer models. In Europe by 2030, 60 percent fewer models, as Antlitz explains. At the same time, more and more plants are being converted to the production of electric cars. "The MQB for the combustion engine will be a great advantage here, as we can keep the economies of scale high with the MQB."In the coming years, the share of spending on research and development will increase - probably due to the development of the SSP and software, among other things, according to Antlitz. After that, the share should decrease again. However, the expenses should quickly lead to corresponding sales. His forecast for 2025 shows how confident the figures expert is: As a basis for planning round 70 next November, the group has increased the original range for the operating return on sales from 7-8 percent to 8-9 percent. ›Software should ensure increasing sales"We expect that by 2030, sales of e-cars will exceed those of combustion engines," said the CFO. “From 2025, another 'revenue pool' will be added, the software. By 2030, the software will be as large as the share of sales from electric cars or combustion engines. ”With sales of 1.2 trillion euros, software could account for around a third of the entire mobility market by 2030 in addition to the expected business with BEV and ICE.Dirk Hilgenberg should make this possible. The CEO of the Group's own software company Cariad and his team are to develop this “revenue pool”. “We're in the front row of the transformation,” says Hilgenberg. "We create the basis for data-driven mobility and access to these profit pools for the group."From the E3 1.1, the software of the MEB, an evolutionary change is to take place with the PPE to the E3 1.2. “It will be a completely new driving experience,” says Hilgenberg. Audi or Porsche customers should be able to bring their own data and services into the car. As can be seen from a slide from Hilgenberg's presentation, the E3 1.2 will be based on Android Automotive - like the system in the Polestar 2.Hilgenberg announces the revolutionary development for 2025. Then the E3 2.0 will debut in the vehicle of the Artemis project. "E3 2.0 offers maximum development synergies within the group, but gives the brands the opportunity to differentiate," says Hilgenberg. E3 2.0 also supports level 3 autonomous driving and is prepared for level 4, according to the announcement.Hilgenberg's forecast: “The software will completely change the product life cycle. Downstream of the sale, we will be able to further enhance the customer experience - depending on whether the customer wants this, permanently or temporarily. ”His example: The customer can unlock more range afterwards, for a vacation trip possibly only for a few days or permanently when his circumstances have changed. All of this is intended to generate sales after the vehicle has been purchased - and thus "significantly" increase the margin per vehicle. Hilgenberg did not provide any details on this.Level 4 autonomy is intended to enable mobility servicesIn addition to the E3 software in the vehicle, which already offers revenue opportunities, a software platform for all aspects of mobility services is also to be set up. This should enable Mobility-as-a-Service and, in the commercial sector, Transport-as-a-Service to be offered and used as easily as an app - which is also made possible by the Level 4 capability ity of the E3 2.0. Together with the services from the vehicle software, this results in point 3: the digital services.In order to sell the 40 million BEVs with E3-2.0 software targeted by Hilgenberg by 2030, the group has to tackle another challenge: charging the electric cars. To this end, Volkswagen intends to further expand the public charging infrastructure in Asia, Europe and America - in some cases beyond the goals announced at “Power Day”.Electrify America is to almost double its current charging infrastructure in the USA and Canada to a total of 1,800 fast charging stations and 10,000 installed charging points by 2025, as VW manager Elke Temme announced. The planned expansion will lead to an expanded use of 150 and 350 kilowatt charging stations.In Europe, Volkswagen has also decided on a new joint venture with Enel X to set up a nationwide HPC network with more than 3,000 charging points with up to 350 kilowatts each. The Volkswagen Group plans to set up a total of 18,000 HPC charging points in Europe, 17,000 in China and 10,000 in the USA and Canada.“The automobile and individual mobility have a bright future,” says Diess with conviction. "With its innovative brands and state-of-the-art technology platforms, Volkswagen is preparing to play a leading role in the new world of mobility."
Source: Livestream of the event, volkswagen-newsroom.com (strategy), volkswagen-newsroom.com (Gotion High-Tech), volkswagen-newsroom.com (cooperation Enel X), electrifyamerica.com

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