Volkswagen is betting on efficient batteries and a dedicated electric platform, usable across different car models, to improve efficiency and lower the costs of e-mobility.
Batteries as the central element: their capacity and efficiency determine the characteristics of electric cars. Yet, to reduce costs and improve production efficiency, new industrial strategies are needed — such as the modular platform that the Volkswagen Group has developed specifically for electric vehicles. In short, for electric mobility to become a genuine alternative to petrol or diesel car models, the industry will have to make considerable efforts to ensure that the end user does not have to "pay" either higher costs or limitations in everyday use. In other words, what is needed are electric cars with a range capable of covering most needs — roughly between 300 and 500 kilometres — on sale at accessible prices. In practice, a "tailor-made" offering is required, where the user can choose their electric car by opting for batteries of various capacities, with price and range able to appeal to an ever-wider audience.
At Volkswagen they call it the MEB platform, and it has been developed exclusively for future electric models, from compacts to SUVs. In practice it is a shared architecture that allows batteries of different sizes and power outputs to be accommodated, even within the same car model. This kind of standardisation makes it possible to produce batteries in an entirely flexible way, Volkswagen explains, with the company guaranteeing for its forthcoming electric models — such as the ID.3 — a residual efficiency of at least 70 per cent after eight years or 160,000 kilometres.
Not exactly. But the parallels are not lacking. Just as with smartphones, user behaviour plays a role in determining battery life, and for the Volkswagen Group there are two aspects worth highlighting: in general, standard charging puts less stress on the battery than fast charging and extends its life, as does charging only up to 80 per cent of maximum capacity. In short, anyone thinking about an electric car will be able to extend battery life through simple habits such as how they charge: with a range of between 300 and 500 kilometres, in most cases there is no need to fully charge the battery to cover daily journeys. According to Volkswagen's estimates, around half of all charging operations will take place at home, and only 20 per cent at the workplace. This is why buyers of electric cars are increasingly interested in a wall box — that is, those charging systems that can be installed in any private location; as an alternative to the standard domestic socket (compared to which they guarantee considerably shorter charging times), these systems have a charging capacity of up to 11 kW, sufficient for a full charge overnight.
On electric mobility, and on batteries in particular, the entire automotive industry is working along common lines: making progress in terms of costs, range and charging times. Each player then has its own strategies. The Volkswagen Group aims to increase the energy content of cells (from which a battery is made) by using silicon anodes. The next leap will probably be the transition to solid-state batteries, the group's German headquarters explains, where several partnerships are being developed to accelerate the timeline. Among the active collaborations are those with QuantumScape and Northvolt. In addition to this, three hundred experts are at work at the centre of excellence in Salzgitter, in Lower Saxony, developing innovative production processes specifically on the subject of batteries.
How much control does a car manufacturer have over the batteries in electric vehicles? The entire lifecycle is monitored, from raw materials to production through to recycling, the Volkswagen Group assures — for the company, the accumulators are not hazardous waste but a valuable source of raw materials. The automotive industry is engaged in numerous projects aimed at reusing the raw materials used in the construction of batteries dedicated to electric mobility. We are talking about elements such as lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt. But also copper, steel and aluminium. At the end of its service life, the battery is tested and potentially reused in applications such as fast-charging stations, or recycled. This is the approach followed by the Group, which sees 2030 as the date from which the number of batteries to be recycled will reach considerable quantities. For this reason, the German manufacturer is also building a pilot plant at its Salzgitter site which, once fully operational, will be able to process 1,200 tonnes of batteries per year, equivalent to approximately 3,000 electric vehicles.
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