Volkswagen plans to introduce a new EV, the ID.4 sedan, which is expected to go into production in 2026, and will be built on a new platform.

VW’s new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is a skateboard-style architecture that Volkswagen Group Chairman Herbert Diess says will replace the existing Modularen Elektrik Baukasten (MEB) structure as well as both the J1 and Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platforms developed by Audi and Porsche.

Other VW brands, including Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda and International Scout, will also use the new platform.

“The next generation of our hardware platforms will allow us to reduce complexity over time, as we will consolidate our existing platform to one architecture for the entire e-product portfolio, from entry-level to top-of-the-range, from 85 to 850 kW,” Diess said.

The MEB platform used by VW’s existing ID. models uses a 400 V architecture, but the SSP will be able to support systems at up to 800 V. This will enable the new ID.4 sedan to offer a much higher charging capacity than the ID.4 crossover’s current 135 kW.

Volkswagen is also instituting a new product development process aimed at bringing new EVs to market much faster. “We’re reducing development time by 25%,” says Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen’s head of R&D. “Future projects will be completed in 40 months from the point at which the basic software architecture is in place, instead of the 54 months we have today.”

At the center of Volkswagen’s new development process, which will be used on all upcoming ID. models, is a new upgradable software architecture called VW.OS.

“The car is increasingly becoming an electrically-driven software product. Its development process must also evolve, software first rather than hardware first,” says Ulbrich.

Source: Wards Auto