BMW expands i3 production while VW looks to the e-Golf

In Germany, the increased purchase premium is boosting demand for electric cars. BMW and VW have now responded by expanding production of the i3 in Leipzig, while the VW e-Golf will continue to be built in Dresden until Christmas, contrary to initial plans.

This increase in their electric car production was concluded in a report published in Automobilwoche. According to the magazine, BMW has cancelled the one-week summer break in i3 production, and the battery-electric vehicle is now in full production. This meant that almost 600 additional units could be built. Besides, BMW is now extending shifts and shortening breaks in ongoing plant operations to increase the number of vehicles per day from 114 to 125 to 130. However, the introduction of two-shift operation is not yet on the agenda. To consider this, demand must prove to be stable into 2021, according to the source mentioned above.

The increased interest of Germans in electric cars is also reflected in the VW plant in Dresden: the e-Golf will now be continued until Christmas at the Gläserne Manufaktur, the Transparent Factory. However, this does not apply to the plant in Wolfsburg. There, the last e-Golf rolled off the assembly line on 23 July.

VW is currently producing 74 units of the e-Golf every day, with the Group aiming for a moderate increase to around 80 electric vehicles per day. The deadline at Christmas is definite, however, as the Transparent Factory will be converted to the production of the ID.3 in January during a three-week production break.

The German government had turned the so-called Environmental Bonus (Umwelt Bonus) into the new Innovation Premium this summer as part of a Coronavirus stimulus package as reported. The increased subsidy of up to 9,480 euros gross for electric cars is granted through BAFA. The new subsidy rate also applies retroactively for all qualified vehicles registered after 3 June this year.

automobilwoche.de (original source, in German)