The Volkswagen Group will build its new range of small electric cars for the Volkswagen, Škoda and Cupra brands at two plants in Spain. According to Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer, the ID2 compact sedan that the German brand previewed last week with the debut of the ID.2all concept will be built in Seat’s Martorell plant together with the Cupra Urban Rebel electric city car. Meanwhile, two small battery-powered SUVs (one for Škoda and one for Volkswagen) will be built at the Pamplona factory, where VW currently builds the Polo. Volkswagen’s version will be called ID.2X reported Automobilwoche. All four small BEVs will be supported by the Group’s Meb Entry platform. Schaefer said economies of scale and auto production in Spain, where wages are relatively lower than in other European countries, will help keep costs down. Producing the four cars in Spain is part of the Group’s €10 billion project in the country. A central component of the project, which includes Seat and nearly 50 partners, is the Valencia gigafactory which will be operated by the Group’s battery company, PowerCo. Volkswagen expects the investment to provide a 21 billion euro boost to Spain’s economy, transforming the country into a European hub for the production of electric vehicles and batteries.
Spain is the second largest car-producing nation in the Old Continent after Germany. All four models will use batteries supplied by the Group’s planned new plants, initially Salzgitter and then Valencia, Schaefer said. Entry-level models will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry, which is less expensive than lithium-ion, while longer range versions will use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry, both to be supplied by VW. The long range variants will reach 450 km of autonomy. Cupra is aiming for a quick ramp-up, with all four cars expected to hit the market within a year and a half of starting production (2025) led by the Urban Rebel. The only model among the four that will cost less than 25,000 euros is the ID.2, added Schaefer. The Cupra Urban Rebel will be presented as a luxury sports model, while the small SUVs are expected to have a higher price tag due to their body style.