Volkswagen currently has a modular architecture in development called MEB that is designed to accommodate electric cars, but while that may satisfy the smaller half of VW’s passenger cars, they are doubting whether it would be a good fit larger vehicles such as their Phaeton replacement or SUVs.
Not only that, but an EV platform solely aimed at larger vehicles throughout the Volkswagen Group will also allay concerns from subsidiaries Porsche and Audi as they plan already have several all-electric vehicles in the pipe and being primed for full production, and all of them are considerably larger than the primary recipients of the MEB platform.
It’s pretty clear that the Volkswagen Group wants to steer away from the diesel emissions scandal that rocked the company’s financials and reputation last year, and an EV offensive might just be what the doctor ordered.
Volkswagen engineers have dubbed the flatly floor-mounted batteries commonly being used in EVs today as the ‘chocolate battery’. They can be added and subtracted depending on the car’s dimensions.
However, the MEB platform has a limit to how many it can accommodate before heft and weight distribution become an issue. An improperly balanced EV would be quite disappointing to drive, something a company like Porsche cannot afford to let out the gate.
Volkmar Tanneberger said: "We're examining right now whether it can go all the way to a C-segment. It could be in the end that we have more than one electric-car architecture in the group -- that there is a second alongside the MEB."
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