Following Zwickau, Volkswagen intends to change its plants at Emden and Hanover in Germany over to the production of electric vehicles.

Volkswagen plans to start building electric cars for three of its in-house brands in Zwickau, eastern Germany, from late 2019 onwards.

The German car maker has provided job guarantees until 2028 for employees at its Emden and Hanover factories, and will spend 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) training workers at its Zwickau plant as it prepares to mass produce electric cars in Germany.

"Volkswagen is implementing its electric offensive consistently. We are orienting the company towards clean mobility. This way, we are also ensuring sustainable prospects for the future of the two plants," said CEO Dr. Herbert Diess.

At a works meeting held on Wednesday in Emden, HR Board Member Gunnar Kilian outlined the principles of the project to employees.

"We are moving at full speed into the production of electric vehicles. Emden and Hanover are to be further model plants in Germany. Together with Zwickau, they will form the largest network for the production of electric vehicles in Europe," said Gunnar Kilian.

On the basis of these plans, Emden will already produce electric vehicles from 2022. In Hanover, models of the electrically powered ID.Buzz family will probably be produced from 2022 together with conventionally powered vehicles.

Around 7,700 Zwickau employees are being trained to assemble the Volkswagen ID, the first car to be produced on the company’s MEB electric car underpinnings. Later, a model known as the ID CROZZ crossover family car will follow.

By late 2020, Zwickau will have a daily production capacity of 1,500 vehicles, making six electric car models, Volkswagen said.