The Volkswagen Group has reached an necessary manufacturing milestone for its purpose-built modular electrical drive (MEB) platform, with a million electrical automobiles constructed utilizing it to date at eight factories internationally.

The information got here by way of the group’s official Twitter account, the place the German firm stated that the milestone was reached with assist from 5 of its manufacturers: Audi, Cupra, Skoda, Volkswagen, and Volkswagen industrial.

VW’s MEB was formally unveiled in 2018 because the agency accelerated its EV enlargement technique and is presently the spine on which a number of automobiles are based mostly. A minimum of 14 automobiles use the MEB platform presently, starting from the Audi This fall e-tron to the not too long ago unveiled Volkswagen ID.7 all-electric sedan that may go on sale in the US subsequent 12 months.

Ford additionally makes use of the German-developed platform for its European-bound Explorer electrical crossover, all whereas working by itself in-house expertise for the US market.

Fisker, the maker of the zero-emissions Ocean, was in negotiations with Volkswagen about utilizing the agency’s MEB platform for the electrical SUV, however in the long run, the American EV startup went with Magna’s personal expertise and determined to construct its first-ever sequence manufacturing mannequin in Austria.

Two electrical motors can be found for MEB-based automobiles: the APP 310 everlasting magnet brushless motor that may produce as much as 229 pound-feet of torque (310 Newton-meters) and the newer AP 550 that was unveiled in April and might ship as much as 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of torque, because the title suggests. In the up to date Skoda Enyaq, the AP 550 motor produces 210 kilowatts (282 horsepower), whereas the pre-update Enyaq had an output of 150 kW (201 hp).

The Volkswagen Group is already engaged on the following iteration of the MEB platform, dubbed MEB+, which is able to allow greater charging speeds of 175-200 kW, in comparison with the 135-170 kW presently obtainable on the MEB structure. Moreover, future EVs based mostly on MEB+ will be capable of drive as much as 435 miles (700 kilometers) on a single cost, up from the present most of 342 miles (550 km).