Volkswagen is driving the transition to e-mobility and today announced plans to put new models at affordable prices on the road, paving the way for the breakthrough of electric vehicles.

As part of the ELECTRIC FOR ALL campaign launched today, the company plans to build 10 million electric cars based on its new modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform, as it targets the launch of worldwide mass production toward the end of 2022.

MEB is a technology platform developed specifically for electric vehicles. Production of the Volkswagen ID., the first series vehicle based on the MEB, will begin in Zwickau at the end of 2019. At the launch of the ELECTRIC FOR ALL campaign, media representatives from all over the world are being given their first deep insight into the technological basis of the ID. at a media workshop in the Glaserne Manufaktur in Dresden, where Volkswagen is demonstrating the centerpiece of the MEB - the rolling chassis without the bodywork and interior - exactly as it will be used in series models.

Volkswagen is also seizing the initiative when it comes to charging infrastructure: a design prototype of the "Volks-Wallbox" is also being premiered in Dresden. This Wallbox is an affordable home system that makes charging the ID. family easy.

Brand Board Member for E-Mobility Thomas Ulbrich commented: "We will make electric vehicles popular and get as many people as possible excited about electric cars. The MEB is one of the most important projects in the history of Volkswagen - a technological milestone, similar to the transition from the Beetle to the Golf."

Furthermore, MEB is not a platform for vehicles with combustion engines that has been retroactively modified, but has from the outset been designed to be 100 percent, uncompromisingly electric.

All members of the ID. family are designed for fast charging. Using fast charging systems, the battery can be charged 80 percent in about 30 minutes thanks to a new, more powerful battery system developed by Volkswagen Group Components

In every respect, the Volkswagen ID. will be an electric car made in Germany. The company plans to invest 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in e-car production, of which 1.3 billion will be invested in its German plants at Braunschweig, Salzgitter and Kassel.

The Braunschweig plant will manufacture the battery system, the heart of the ID.

The Salzgitter plant starts pre-series production of rotors and stators for the MEB this year. The Battery Cell Center of Excellence (CoE) is amassing development and manufacturing competence in battery cells and battery module production. This currently includes a lab line to be followed by pilot production with a view to building up production know-how.

The Kassel plant has already been the competence center for electric drives for many years. Production of the entirely new MEB drive developed by Group Components for the Volkswagen brand begins at the end of this year. The site is the lead plant for high-quality, cost-efficient electric motors.

Volkswagen, like other German auto makers, is pushing into volume production of electric cars as U.S. rival Tesla struggles to scale up manufacturing of its Model 3, its first car to target the mass market.

BMW and Daimler also plan to ramp up e-car output in the coming years.