Volkswagen announced a new electric sedan that is price and equipped to compete with electric vehicles as well Tesla Model 3, or something maybe a little bigger. TThe development program already has a bad name: The Trinity Project.
I don’t know why this isn’t in line with the “ID” nomenclature that VW is currently building with European crossovers ID.3 and US ID.4, but it looks like it could be the carmaker developing a new one again. new platform.
Details about VW’s new Project Trinity sedan are sparse, apart from the extended silhouette teaser image released today. VW CEO Ralf Brandstätter said the new EV will be able to “charge as fast as refueling” a petrol car at a fuel pump and will offer “new standards in terms of autonomy”. It is not even clear what size the sedan is planned, but if it is flagship, may not be as compact as the size of the Tesla Model 3. The only hardware the automaker was interested in detailing about Trinity is the suite of equipment and driver assistance and self-driving systems on the platform.
Serial version of the version The EV sedan from Project Trinity will have a lot standardized hardware with fewer equipment options available, according to the carmaker. This means that every car running on the line will come with a standard hardware load, whether it is or not you have paid for all the associated options up front. You will travel with the weight of the equipment on the car that you did not pay enough to use. VW considers that it is turning the car into a “software-based product”, in which the owner can pay to unlock the features in the air, as all the necessary hardware components are pre-installed (theoretically).
This is assumed reduces the complexity of production and, extrapolating, probably simplifies service, ordering and delivery operations, and logistics processes as well. The inventory sheet shrinks and the quality improves as the menu shortens, so to speak.
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“In the future, the individual configuration of the vehicle will no longer be determined by the hardware at the time of purchase”, Says Brandstätter. “Instead, customers will be able to add features on demand at any time through the car’s digital ecosystem. ”
Some of these features are planned to include different levels of driver assistance, with equipment that VW claims to be capable of. Level 4 manual self-driving in the near future – and hardware-ready for digital unlock when the owner chooses. The car will come standard with Level 2 driver assistance systems.
I am still very skeptical of any system that claims capacity or legality, above the current driver assistance features such as steering assistance, lane guidance, automatic remote cruising speed control and automatic braking systems however, it requires full practical attention and concentration on the part of the driver.
Competitors like Tesla have sunk foot finger in lock functions or performance behind software partitions in the name of hardware standardization to simplify the manufacturing process. Although there have been strong initial negative reactions, it is a manufacturing method that has been adopted among other global car manufacturers, such as the NIO EV range in China and that of Lucid. next line.
We will see how hardware standardization hasaffects the price sedan from Project Trinity, which will compete with Tesla Model 3. On the European market, where the Model 3 is priced at 39,990 euros, German Welt paper reported CEO Brandstätter said prices could start “around 35,000 euros”.
It shakes directly to just over $ 41,700 in US dollars, but state prices are probably cheaper than direct conversion into euros to dollars. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus currently starts at $ 36,990 in the US on the Tesla website a cheaper standard range may still be available through a store or over the phone. In addition, US VW EV sales volumes may still qualify for federal tax cuts until the car goes into production in 2026, for which Tesla buyers no longer qualify, in addition to local and state tax cuts (on which Tesla buyers still qualify) for).
As for the name, VW says: “Trinity represents three crucial themes: a newly developed electronic platform with state-of-the-art software, the simplification of the supply structure, and fully connected and intelligent production at the Wolfsburg main plant. ”
This one it could be a kind of obvious digging into the Model 3 from Tesla, although it reminds me of the Trinity nuclear device test, the first atomic bomb ever detonated. An event that certainly changes the world, but not one to which you really want to connect your brand.