The big push for electric vehicles in the U.S. got another deep-pocketed boost this week as Volkswagen started assembly work for its all-electric ID.4 sports utility vehicle in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The German-based automaker marked the start of ID.4 production today for the compact SUV. It will be Volkswagen’s first EV assembled in the U.S, and the first vehicles could be delivered to market as early as October.
“We’re just starting to write a new chapter for Volkswagen in America, and it is very much an American story,” said Thomas Schäfer, Chairman of the global Volkswagen brand, in a statement. “When we promised to bring Volkswagen EVs to the millions, it always included American workers building those EVs right there in Chattanooga. We couldn’t be prouder to see that vision realized today with our ID.4 electric flagship rolling off the lines.”
Initially, the American-assembled ID.4 will be available in either rear-wheel- or all-wheel-drive 82-kWh battery form (which is often listed with a price tag in the 40,000 and higher range). In addition, a rear-wheel-drive version with a 62-kWh battery will go into production later in 2022, with a lower suggested retail price.
Volkswagen’s news follows Ford Motor Co.’s Model e division announcement last week about a commitment to broaden its battery cell supply chain to include more suppliers globally and also include lithium iron phosphate as a battery element to diversify and balance challenging global supply lines for nickel.
The German company has been ramping up its EV presence in the U.S. for years, accelerating that after getting in regulatory trouble over misleading emissions reporting of some of its internal combustion models. Volkswagen also helped create the ElectrifyAmerica charging infrastructure network to answer range fears around EVs.
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Most of the components for the ID.4 will be sourced in North America, the company said. This includes steel in Alabama and Ohio, interior parts in Indiana and South Carolina and electronics in Kentucky and North Carolina.
The EV battery will be supplied by SK Innovation located in Georgia. The South Korean-based SK built a plant in Commerce, Ga., several years ago and promised to invest about $2.7 billion toward the battery manufacturing and assembly lines.
More than 3,000 U.S. jobs on the ID.4/Volkswagen supplier side have been created.
“There has been a tremendous effort by thousands of VW Chattanooga employees to bring this vision to life,” said Chris Glover, President and CEO, Volkswagen Chattanooga Operations, LLC. “I’d like to thank all our highly motivated team members and the extended community of Chattanooga for supporting us as we begin assembly of the ID.4 for the North American market.”
Volkswagen Chattanooga employs more than 4,000 people and is actively hiring more than 1,000 new production team members through 2022, to help meet high customer demand for the ID.4 and Atlas SUV family of EVs. To prepare for the EV transition, the factory has organized more than 75,000 hours of workforce training on battery-powered vehicle and high-voltage systems.
Volkswagen has committed $7.1 billion over the next five years in the North American region to boost its product portfolio, regional R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Volkswagen aims for 55 percent of U.S. sales to be fully electric by 2030.
The German automaker is hardly alone in this EV commitment. General Motors has opened its Factory Zero in Michigan to assemble EVs based on the Ultium platform, while Ford, Toyota and Nissan have detailed nine-digit and often multi-billion-dollar investments in U.S. EV markets.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
