Volkswagen Group Components (VGC), an independent business unit under the Volkswagen AG banner, is to produce the company’s APP 310 drive motor, for the Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB), at its Tianjin, China factory.
The motors will be used in the Volkswagen ID.4 variants produced by the joint venture partners FAW (ID.4 CROZZ) and SAIC (ID.4 X), while the Group’s future MEB models for China will also be supplied locally. Currently, the main factory for electric drives is in Kassel, Germany, which produces the APP 310 motor for existing and future MEB models in Europe and North America.
Thomas Schmall, CEO of Volkswagen Group Components, commented, “With the start of production on the APP 310 at our components site in Tianjin, we are accelerating the electric mobility movement not only in the regional market but also for the Group as a whole. Our presence in the key markets enables us to react flexibly and efficiently to the needs of our customers. In this way, Volkswagen Group Components is making a major contribution to the Group’s electrification campaign.”
VGC notes that automatic gearboxes have been produced at the Tianjin component plant since 2012. Following the ramp-up of the DQ400e hybrid engine and the APP 290 electric drive, the company says the APP 310 represents the next milestone in the transformation to electric mobility for the plant.
The permanent magnet synchronous machine with the drive and gearbox parallel to the axles has an output of up to 150kW (204ps) with a maximum torque of 310Nm. The company highlights that the two component plants at Kassel and Tianjin are working closely together on the industrialization process for the new product.
At present, the technical capacity installed at both sites corresponds to up to 880,000 electric drives per year. Volkswagen AG hopes that production will be expanded up to 1.4 million electric drives as early as 2023.