Volkswagen's Electric Vehicle Projects Postponed Again Due to Software Problems
TapTechNews July 15th news, Volkswagen seems to be struggling to get rid of software problems. Many of its electric vehicle projects have been postponed again, among which the highly anticipated ID.4 replacement model and the new all-electric SUV of Porsche will be affected.
Software problems have been one of the biggest challenges Volkswagen has faced in recent years. Previously, the launches of heavyweight electric models such as the Porsche Macan Electric and the Audi Q6 e-tron were delayed due to software issues.
Even though these two models finally went on the market (but at least a year later than originally expected), Volkswagen still seems to have difficulty getting on the right track. According to the German media ManagerMagazin, many of Volkswagen's electric vehicle projects have been postponed again.
It is reported that some models of Volkswagen's new SSP platform will not go on the market until the end of 2029. Volkswagen had already postponed the launch of this platform several years ago, and now it has been postponed by another 15 months. The reason for this delay is that its software department Cariad failed to deliver the required software in time.
This delay means that Volkswagen's next-generation electric vehicles, including the replacement model of the ID.4 and the new all-electric SUV of Porsche, the fastest time for these models to go on the market will be postponed to 2029.
It is understood that the new all-electric SUV of Porsche will be positioned as a luxury seven-seat model with the code name SUVK1. Porsche product manager Albrecht Reimold said that this car will become the top model in our product line.
Industry insiders expect that Porsche's electric SUV will compete with the upcoming electric version of the Land Rover Range Rover and super luxury brands such as Ferrari.
In the meantime, Volkswagen will launch the upgraded version of its MEB platform (MEB+) in 2026, and the service life of this platform will also be extended until the SSP platform goes on the market.
The Cariad department of Volkswagen has long had continuous problems and is a big headache for the former CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess. Some people even regard it as one of the triggers for Diess' departure.
Herbert Diess' original intention in founding Cariad in 2020 was to narrow the technology gap between Volkswagen and Tesla and provide support for its next-generation electric vehicles. To reverse the situation, Volkswagen has hired many industry leaders, including former executives from Tesla and Rivian.
In addition, Volkswagen also announced the establishment of a joint venture with Rivian and plans to invest up to 5 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 36.411 billion RMB) in Rivian, which aims to apply Rivian's software technology to Volkswagen models.