New Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume is rocking the company’s electric vehicle plans as the company grapples with software delays.
The launch of the Trinity EV, which is supposed to act as the brand Tesla Model 3 rival and technology locomotive for the brand, has been pushed from 2026 to 2030 according to a report from European Automotive News.
management magazine reports that it is being delayed because new software won’t be ready in time, with Volkswagen delaying its new E3 2.0 software platform from 2026 to 2029.
Well-publicized problems with Volkswagen’s Cariad software division have also been blamed for the company’s delays. Audi Q6 electronic and Porsche Macan EV.
Plans to build a dedicated factory for Trinity in Wolfsburg, Germany could also be scrapped.
In addition to Trinity’s delay, Mr. Blume is said to have sent an internal message to employees advising that “currently…is taking the opportunity to review all projects and investments and check the eligibility their feasibility”.
Blume, who replaces Herbert Diess as CEO of the VW Group on September 1, is said to have retracted some of its predecessor’s goals because they were “unrealistic”, according to an unnamed source at Volkswagen.
volkswagen announced in March it planned to begin construction of Trinity’s factory in 2023 and would use it as a testbed for new development and production processes, which would gradually be filtered out elsewhere.
At the start of production, Volkswagen said it set a production target of 10 hours per vehicle and would achieve this goal by having fewer parts, fewer variants to produce, more automation, Leaner production lines and new logistics concepts.
That’s a third of the time Volkswagen produces a ID.3and the same amount of time it takes Tesla to build a Model Y at its Grunheide plant in Germany.
Trinity is set to launch the Group’s new SSP architecture that Volkswagen says will support Level 4 autonomous driving technology. The architecture is now slated to debut on another vehicle.
The EV, which is set to offer a range of more than 700 kilometers, is said to still be on the market but could be built on-line at its main factory in Wolfsburg.
The company’s plans for autonomous vehicles changed last month when Volkswagen – along with Ford – announced that it was working pull more investment in self-driving startup Argo AI, incurred a non-cash loss charge of 1.9 billion euros (AUD 2.93 billion) as a result of the write-down of the investment.
It said it will rely on Cariad to develop Level 3 autonomous driving technology, although a report suggests it will also expand its partnership with Intel’s Mobileye Division.
While Trinity was supposed to be delayed, Volkswagen’s eponymous brand still plans to introduce it 10 new EVs in 2026 and cease production of internal combustion engine vehicles in Europe by 2033.
Volkswagen isn’t the only major automaker dealing with the difficulties of rolling out a wide range of electric vehicles.
Toyota is said to be considering a drastic overhaul of its EV plansthis could put many vehicle projects on hold and potentially phase out important EV architecture ahead of time.
