Technical Development
Press releases
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Technology in the new Touareg – Part 4: “Traffic Jam Assist” now also masters traffic jams and roadworks semi-automatically at speeds less than 55 km/h
Partly automated driving functions take comfort to an unprecedented level. The new Touareg is a ground-breaking example of this: The driver on board this luxury SUV is specifically assisted when steering, accelerating and braking by assist systems if desired. Thanks to the fusion of different systems, the Touareg can semi-automatically master irritating stop-and-go situations when “Traffic Jam Assist” is active. -
Volkswagen’s incubator programme: three international innovative start-ups move into the Gläserne Manufaktur
Three more start-ups have been decided on for the founders programme in the Future Mobility Incubator at the Gläserne Manufaktur: At CEBIT, the international digital trade fair in Hannover, and at a founders competition in Riga (Latvia), the start-ups CarPay-Diem from Luxembourg, Zouzoucar from France and carVertical from Lithuania were chosen as the winners. They will begin work in the Gläserne Manufaktur in September 2018, where they will have the opportunity to develop their ideas for market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the city of Dresden’s business development team. Thus with the third founders class, exclusively international start-ups are moving to the capital city of Saxony. -
Electric offensive: Volkswagen trains top experts for the production of the ID. family
The Volkswagen brand is moving ahead with preparations for its major electric offensive and launching a comprehensive e-mobility competence program. Within the framework of the “Future Electronic Engineer Program” (FEEP), 100 young engineers and skilled workers throughout the world will be trained as top production experts. As start of production specialists, they will occupy future-oriented positions in planning, the pilot hall, the e-mobility model group, the pre-series center and electronics development. The first participants to complete the three-year program will support the run-up phase of the ID. family, the new generation of full-electric vehicles based on the modular electrification toolkit (MEB) in Zwickau. -
Israeli Startup enters the “Future Mobility Incubator” at the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden
Volkswagen supports innovative business ideas for future mobility. A young founder team was selected at the EcoMotion international mobility fair in Tel Aviv, Israel for the startup programme in the Future Mobility incubator at die Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden: the Make My Day startup was chosen as the victor following a pitch competition. The startup is developing an innovative app, a kind of personal assistant for your car which looks for the optimal route for the driver, the optimised charging for electric vehicles and integrates necessary daily shopping into the route planning. The user will save time and money with Make My Day. The startup will begin work in Die Gläserne Manufaktur in September 2018, where they will have the opportunity to develop their ideas to market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the City of Dresden’s business development team. -
Three world premieres: Volkswagen presents progressive hybrid, natural gas and diesel systems at the Vienna Motor Symposium
Volkswagen will be enhancing its model range by an innovative spectrum of completely new drive systems. These include affordable mild hybrid drives with 48V technology, new high-tech diesel engines that will also be available as hybrid variants and what is currently the world's most cutting-edge natural gas drive. Volkswagen has now announced initial facts as part of the Vienna Motor Symposium (26 to 27 April). The technologies showcased in Vienna as world premieres form a vital part of the progressively aligned Volkswagen drive strategy. It involves the combination of state-of-the-art petrol, diesel and natural gas engines, new hybrid systems and purely electric drives. With this combination, Volkswagen will among other things meet the CO2 fleet emissions target of 95 g/km prescribed in the EU as of 2020. -
40-page journey back in time through the history of research at Volkswagen
In its new publication Ahead of the time, Volkswagen goes on a fascinating journey back in time through the history of research and development: as early as in 1955, the brand developed its first prototype with a unitary body and front-wheel drive. The first crash tests were conducted in 1965 and the ESVW I research vehicle from 1972 represented a milestone in the improvement of safety. The 40-page brochure covers developments in the area of alternative drives and also takes a look at the shape of things to come. -
Volkswagen to offer electrified versions of its models
Volkswagen is to launch an electric version of its globally best-selling vehicle – the Volkswagen Golf, offering a sustainable, efficient and powerful alternative. The introduction of innovative, new hybrid systems in the eighth generation of Golf vehicles marks a new era for the brand with regard to drive technology. In the future, Volkswagen will gradually electrify almost every vehicle in its range of models. The company is offering a first look at the future of electrified drive systems as part of the International Vienna Motor Symposium – one of the world’s most important congresses on the automotive technology of today and the future. -
Intensified customer experience: Volkswagen creates new Holistic User Experience (HUX) Division
Volkswagen is consistently preparing itself to become the most user centered mobility brand. Therefore, the company establishes the new Holistic User Experience (HUX) division headed by Dr. Matthias Erb. In his new role he reports directly to the CEO of the Volkswagen brand, Dr. Herbert Diess. -
New Volkswagen Centre of Competence for Safety
With its new safety centre, Volkswagen is bringing together its vehicle safety expertise at a single location. Blending into the existing architecture, a new three-story building with approximately 8,000 square metres of floor space was constructed at the headquarters in Wolfsburg. The centrepiece is a new state-of-the-art crash sled facility which for the first time can simulate lateral and rotational vehicle body movements both horizontally and vertically. -
Innovative sensor jacket trains industrial robots – Transparent Factory establishes partnership with Dresden-based start-up Wandelbots
Volkswagen's Gläserne Manufaktur (Transparent Factory) and Dresden-based start-up Wandelbots have established a novel joint venture in human-robot collaboration (HRC). This was announced today at the "South by Southwest" technology festival in Austin, Texas (USA). It aims to establish and operate an innovative testing station at the Gläserne Manufaktur in order to test new HRC applications in vehicle end assembly to prepare them for serial production. The plan: to efficiently train industrial robots using an innovative sensor jacket fitted with sensors and actuators. The activities in Dresden will cover the assembly, logistics and maintenance of Volkswagen's electric Golf production. -
Volkswagen and NVIDIA to Infuse AI into Future Vehicle Lineup
Volkswagen and NVIDIA today shared their vision for how AI and deep learning will shape the development of a new generation of intelligent Volkswagen vehicles. At the kickoff of the 2018 International CES, Volkswagen CEO Dr Herbert Diess and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang discussed on stage how AI is transforming the auto industry and highlighted the new ID. BUZZ, Volkswagen's exciting new rebirth of the iconic Volkswagen MicroBus, reimagined in electric car form and infused with AI technology for the cockpit and self-driving. -
Heat, cold and wind speeds up to 250 km/h: Volkswagen inaugurates new Wind Tunnel Efficiency Center
In the course of its largest model and technology offensive to date, the Volkswagen brand today opened a new Wind Tunnel Efficiency Center in Wolfsburg, which is one of the most modern and efficient in the industry. The center, with a floor area of 8,800 m², is also certified for measurements in accordance with WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedures). Vehicles can be tested at wind speeds of up to 250 km/h, simulating real traffic conditions with a view to reducing drag, fuel consumption and emissions. In addition, driving simulations under all the climatic and environmental conditions normally experienced throughout the world can be conducted – at temperatures between -30°C and +60°C. -
Traveling in a Volkswagen that is still to be developed
Volkswagen plant, Technical Development, Hall 70: a Golf rolls up. The hall has no windows but the Golf glides through a sunny urban scene. Here too, nothing is real, not even the Golf. This model will only appear on the roads in a few years' time. Nevertheless, Frank Ostermann and Mathias Möhring are already sitting in the car. Ostermann enters a new route while Möhring adjusts the air conditioning. It's all no problem. The virtual Golf and its surroundings are the result of ground-breaking teamwork. The Volkswagen Group IT Virtual Engineering Lab and the Technical Development Department of the Volkswagen brand had a shared goal. They wanted to revolutionize the development of new Volkswagen models. They have succeeded: The next Golf will already be developed virtually. -
With the aim of increasing safety in road traffic, Volkswagen will enable vehicles to communicate with each other as from 2019
Connectivity between different vehicles as well as between vehicles and transport infrastructure in the vicinity is another important step towards connected motoring that aims to reduce road accidents or minimise their consequences. As from 2019, Volkswagen will therefore start fitting its first models with pWLAN as standard in order to serve as an additional communication technology for the exchange selected information relevant to traffic between cars made by different manufacturers. This will involve information being exchanged both between vehicles (car-to-car), as well as between vehicles and the transport infrastructure (car-to-X)*. This will, for example, enable information about the current traffic situation, accidents and other situations relating to traffic conditions to be shared with the local environment, within a radius of approx. 500 m, even faster than has been possible in the past. -
This summer, six innovative mobility teams are launching Volkswagen's start-up incubator programme
The first six teams for the new start-up incubator at Volkswagen's Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden have been chosen: the start-ups Smart City System from Nuremberg, LoyalGo from Dortmund, Tretbox from Berlin and Ekoio from Leipzig were declared winners on Thursday evening following a pitch competition at the factory. They will move into the Gläserne Manufaktur in summer, together with the start-ups Geospin from Freiburg and CarlundCarla.de from Dresden. There they will be able to develop their ideas for the market with support from Volkswagen experts and financial support from the state capital, Dresden. -
At CeBIT 2017: Transparent Factory launches start-up incubator program in Dresden
Volkswagen's Transparent Factory in Dresden is supporting innovative business ideas connected with the future of mobility. Together with the Economic Development Department of the City of Dresden, start-ups in future-oriented fields such as fleet management, car sharing, concierge and navigation/parking services as well as smart home services are to be supported. For this purpose, the Transparent Factory launched a start-up incubator program at CeBIT 2017 in Hanover today. This program is being implemented together with the Volkswagen Group IT Ideation Hub. In the presence of Dr. Martin Hofmann, CIO Volkswagen Group, Kai Siedlatzek, Managing Director of Volkswagen Sachsen responsible for Finance & Controlling, Dr. Robert Franke, Head of the Economic Development Department of the City of Dresden, and Dr. Jennifer Sarah Geffers, Head of Ideation Hub, launched the website (https://ideationhub.de) on which young start-ups can submit their applications by symbolically touching a button. The objective is that the start-ups should develop their ideas right through to market maturity at the Transparent Factory. -
How Volkswagen is developing the car of the future virtually
Bright sunlight floods the Volkswagen Virtual Engineering Lab in Wolfsburg. Two dozen screens flicker, some of them showing graphics and others hundreds of lines of program code. In the center of the room, there is a scale 1:4 model of a Golf. Frank Ostermann inspects the model, and then he changes its wheels, replaces the rear lights and modifies the wing mirrors. Ostermann uses voice commands and gestures to change the design. It is all completed in a matter of seconds. Augmented reality makes it possible. The software required was developed in the Virtual Engineering Lab and the team's results could revolutionize the work of engineers and designers. -
Strategy TRANSFORM 2025+: Volkswagen launches programme for key future technologies
Volkswagen secures its position in the field of future vehicle innovations. The company's first partner here is Infineon Technologies, one of the world's leading semiconductor suppliers. Volkswagen will further intensify the direct dialogue with Infineon in order to define the requirements for future semiconductor solutions and thus pursue new joint development approaches. -
Icon of a new era with electric drive: Volkswagen presents another model of the ID. family in Detroit
The era of electric mobility begins. At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS, 8 to 22 January) in Detroit, Volkswagen is presenting a new model of the ID. family – a multi-functional vehicle of a new era. The concept vehicle forges links between the legendary origins of the Volkswagen brand and its electrifying future. Like the ID., this concept is also based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB), and so it shows the potential and bandwidth of the MEB. -
Volkswagen receives go-ahead from the Federal Motor Transport Authority for the modification of models with the 1.6-litre EA 189 TDI engine
The technical solutions for 2.6 vehicles with EA 189 1.6-litre TDI engines have been approved by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Implementation can therefore soon begin on the first of the vehicles of the third and final engine size. The vehicle keepers will be notified in succession over the coming weeks. All affected customers can then book their vehicle in for the modification at an authorised workshop at a time of their choosing. -
Volkswagen announces preliminary approval of 2.0L TDI settlement program in the United States
Volkswagen AG announced today that Judge Charles R. Breyer of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California has granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement reached on June 28 with private plaintiffs represented by the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC) to resolve civil claims regarding eligible Volkswagen and Audi 2.0L TDI vehicles in the United States. -
Volkswagen Reaches Settlement Agreements with U.S. Federal Regulators, Private Plaintiffs and 44 U.S. States on TDI Diesel Engine Vehicles
Volkswagen AG announced today that it has reached settlement agreements with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the State of California; the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC); and private plaintiffs represented by the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee (PSC) to resolve civil claims regarding eligible Volkswagen and Audi 2.0L TDI diesel engine vehicles in the United States. Of approximately 499,000 2.0L TDL vehicles that were produced for sale in the United States, approximately 460,000 Volkswagen and 15,000 Audi vehicles are currently in use and eligible for buybacks and lease terminations or emissions modifications, if approved by regulators. Volkswagen will establish a maximum funding pool for the 2.0L TDI settlement program of $10.033 billion. That amount assumes 100% participation and that 100% of eligible customers choose a buyback or lease termination. -
A navigation system that learns: "Regular Routes" makes driving more relaxing
In order to make things easier for commuters, Volkswagen has developed a learning-enabled navigation feature known as Regular Routes. The great thing about the system is that it automatically "memorises" regularly driven routes (e.g. to work) and then scans them to see if there are any traffic disturbances. If a jam has been identified along the route, the navigation system will automatically select an alternate route even when in the inactive mode. So, how much does it cost? Nothing, actually, since the latest generation of the Discover Media and Discover Pro radio-navigation systems from Volkswagen come with Regular Routes as a standard feature. -
Volkswagen at the 37th Vienna Motor Symposium
Volkswagen is presenting the latest generation of the so-called EA211 TSI evo at the 37th International Vienna Motor Symposium. The first model in this future generation of spark ignition engines is the 1.5-litre TSI. This simultaneously fuel-efficient and high-torque TSI engine is set to launch in late 2016, initially with outputs of 96 kW and 110 kW. One of the numerous highlights of the new power unit is the turbocharger with variable turbine geometry, which features for the first time in a volume-produced spark ignition engine. -
Hannover Messe 2016: Volkswagen, a partner in the SLAM research project, unveils the "Golden Test Device"
Volkswagen is working with partners from industry and science on the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy's SLAM research project ("Fast charging network for road axes and metropolitan areas"). The aim is to establish a research network focussing on plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles by means of quick charging stations on key traffic routes and intersection points to enable the onward journey. Such a charging infrastructure is an important step towards promoting electric mobility in Germany. A central component of SLAM is the "Golden Test Device" prototype co-developed by Volkswagen which will be unveiled at the Hannover Messe industrial trade show (25 - 29 April). -
e-smartConnect: Volkswagen is conducting research on an automated quick-charging system for the next generation of electric vehicles
Volkswagen AG is once again underscoring the leading role it plays in electric and automated drive systems — and is already looking ahead to the next generation of electric vehicles. The improvements Volkswagen has achieved with the energy density and capacity of its traction batteries will enable a range of more than 500 km in the foreseeable future. This will lead to "true electrification" of personal transport with a large volume of vehicles. In order to make charging times for such vehicles as short as possible — and the charging process as efficient and convenient as can be — engineers in Wolfsburg are working on an automated direct-current charging system, a so-called automated e-filling station "e-smartConnect".
