Volkswagen employees to test ID.3 electric car before launch, just like Tesla

Volkswagen will give150 units of its upcoming electric vehicle ID.3 to its employees at three of its German factoriesso they can test it for several weeks, before the carmaker launches the model in September.

The ID.3 fleet from Saxony consists of 150 vehicles that will be made available to Volkswagen employees at the Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden plants in several waves over the coming weeks. A lucky draw was held to select the voluntary testers. The test vehicles are not yet equipped with the designated final software status and will be receiving regular updates during the test phase.

This is the first time Volkswagen has undertaken such an initiative before a key launch. This is similar to initiatives taken by Tesla to use its employees as test pilots for its most important launches. Tesla had earlier tried this approach with the Model 3 before its launch.

The Volkswagen ID.3 is the world’s first car to be produced and delivered with a neutral Co2 balance. The new electric car offers dynamic driving characteristics, long ranges and plenty of interior space.

As the first Volkswagen site, the Zwickau factory has been converted into Europe’s largest and most efficient electric car plant and plays a groundbreaking role in the transformation of Volkswagen’s global production network. Apart from production at the Zwickau plant, and also in Dresden from 2021, the Components plants in Brunswick, Kassel, Salzgitter and Wolfsburg also supply parts for the ID.3, delivering key components such as the electric drives or the battery systems. The vehicle plants in Emden and Hanover are also undergoing conversion and are scheduled to begin building electric cars from 2022.

“The comprehensive driving profiles in the run-up to the European market launch of the ID.3 are extremely valuable to us and open up further potential for optimisation", Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for E-mobility, said. “Added to this is the very personal feedback from our employees. That means our team in Zwickau is not only building the ID.3 to the highest quality standards, it is also actively assisting in the further development of the technology and electric cars."

Production of the next model from the ID. family, the first all-electric SUV ID.4, will commence in Zwickau this year. Like the ID.3, the ID.4 will also be produced with a neutral Co2balance and will therefore be handed over to customers with a climate-neutral footprint.