German car maker’s flagship electric model line had already been delayed two years to 2028 – but customers will now have to wait even longer as the project is set back once more.
Volkswagen’s next-generation electric vehicle project – codenamed ‘Trinity’ – has been delayed until 2032, after the decision was made to use existing vehicle platforms for upcoming models.
US site Carscoops reports the new vehicle’s delay – which was supposed to be the first car to use the new electric-specific Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) – means the 2029 Volkswagen Golf is poised to debut the new-generation technology.
Ahead of the Trinity’s revised 2032 arrival, the successor to the Volkswagen ID.4 – due in 2030 – and a rumoured T-Sport small SUV planned for the following year, will both use the SSP underpinnings.
Announced in 2021, Project Trinity presented a new-generation premium Volkswagen electric vehicle based on the new platform including Level 4 autonomy to be used across Volkswagen Group brands including Porsche and Audi.
Production for the first Volkswagen-badged model was set for 2026 at a yet-to-be-built $US200 million ($AU302 million) factory at Wolfsburg, Germany, where the car maker is based.
The factory was conceived around increased manufacturing efficiencies – such as Tesla’s ‘gigacasting’ technique the US car maker dropped in 2024 – to half the time taken to build a car from 20 to 10 hours.
In late 2022, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer – having recently replaced Dr Herbert Diess who had signed off on Project Trinity – told Drive the project did not need a new plant.
Schafer also told Drive an internal review of the car maker’s production capacity and future model strategy resulted in the decision to delay the project until 2028.
Carscoops reports Volkswagen executive Oliver Blume – who is CEO of Volkswagen Group as well as CEO of Porsche – was behind the move to push the project back to 2032.
Blume also shelved plans for a new Wolfsburg factory, opting instead to manufacture the next-generation Trinity in Zwickau, Germany – and use existing technology in showrooms for longer.
This means the MEB (Modular Electric Drive Matrix) underpinnings used on the Volkswagen ID electric line-up – with the ID.4 and ID.5 due in Australia in 2024 – and the Skoda Enyaq electric SUV will carry on for longer.
An upgraded MEB+ platform is expected to go into production in 2026 promising greater electric driving range among other advancements.
The PPE (Platform Premium Electric) architecture used by Porsche on the 2025 Macan electric SUV and on the 2025 Audi A6 e-tron and Audi Q6 e-tron will also continue.
The PPE platform – set for the next electric Porsche Boxster and Cayman sports cars – has also been mooted for a return of the Volkswagen Scirocco and Audi TT using electric power.
The news comes as Porsche and Audi are among a number of car makers so far in 2024 to wind back electric vehicle ambitions.
In Australia, Volkswagen revised its model plans to include more hybrid vehicles following the adoption of the New Vehicle Efficient Standards (NEVS) on 1 January 2025.
Volkswagen Group is also looking at slashing new model development time to three years – down from just over four years – with projected savings of €10 billion ($AU16.6 billion).
The post Volkswagen ‘premium electric vehicle’ project delayed again – report appeared first on Drive.
