Volkswagen Turns To LFP And In-House Electronics For Its Affordable EVs

• Volkswagen’s upcoming affordable EVs will take on Chinese competitors with some new tech under their belts.
• The German automaker will use LFP batteries, which are known for their low cost and high durability.
• A high-efficiency inverter with silicon carbide components is also new, alongside a newly developed electric motor.

Volkswagen’s EV game was rocky at first, but now the German automaker is humming along nicely. With sales going in the right direction, the company vowed to bring back buttons and get rid of the annoying touch sliders on the next wave of EVs. But that’s not all, as it plans big improvements under the skin, too.

During last week’s IAA Mobility show in Munich, the Volkswagen Group revealed more about the new batteries, motors and electronics that will power its upcoming wave of small affordable electric cars, including the ID. Polo and ID. Cross, which are expected to start from less than $29,000 (€25,000) in Europe.

As InsideEVs Germany learned at the show from presentations and VW engineers, the German company developed a brand-new electric drive unit dubbed the APP290, which will be used in all of the Volkswagen Group’s Electric Urban Car Family models from brands like Skoda, Cupra and VW.

The new motor, which was developed in-house, is a permanent-magnet drive unit that can output around 214 pound-feet (290 Newton-meters) of torque and up to 214 horsepower (160 kilowatts), the outlet says. That should be plenty for the city-sized cars it will be used in, which will be no bigger than a Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Meanwhile, a silicon carbide (SiC) inverter, the first in-house inverter developed by the Volkswagen Group, will help minimize energy losses and boost efficiency, our German edition reported. 

When it comes to batteries, Volkswagen has developed a “unified cell” and plans to keep costs down as much as possible by employing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) packs, which are known for their durability and low cost. The LFP battery used in the upcoming small EVs will have a capacity of 38 kilowatt-hours, while a larger, 56 kWh battery with a nickel manganese cobalt chemistry will also be offered, the outlet said. Both types of batteries will be capable of fast charging from 10% to 80% in under 25 minutes, but the automaker did not say what the peak power will be.

The large NMC battery will be capable of delivering roughly 280 miles (450 kilometers) of range, Volkswagen said. There’s no range figure for the smaller LFP pack, but we can estimate that it will likely be in the neighborhood of 186 miles (300 km). Neither of these batteries is big—at least by American EV pickup standards—but it’s worth remembering that the cars that will be powered by them are about the same size as a Toyota Corolla hatchback.

The VW-developed prismatic cells for both types of chemistries will come from a variety of suppliers, including Samsung SDI, SK on, Gotion, CATL, LG Energy Solution and Volkswagen’s own PowerCo. Cell-to-pack packaging—rather than more typical battery modules—should keep size and weight down, and there’s a top cooling plate to keep temperatures in check.

All of this means that Volkswagen and its sister brands should be able to sell a wide range of affordable EVs to fend off the barrage of Chinese models, all while keeping production local to Europe. It doesn’t mean a whole lot for American buyers, as the diminutive EVs are unlikely to make it stateside, but the technology could make its way to other models that will be sold here.