Volkswagen on Monday confirmed it will build electric cars at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in 2022.
The automaker will invest $800 million in the site for electric car production and in the process create around 1,000 jobs directly at the plant, plus additional jobs at supplier firms.
VW is preparing a family of next-generation EVs based on its MEB modular platform, the first of which will be a Golf-sized hatch due later in 2019. We won't see the hatch in the United States; instead, the first MEB-based EV sold here will be a small crossover based on 2017's Crozz concept. It will go on sale in 2020.
It isn't clear what electric car(s) VW will build at the Chattanooga plant, though the 2022 timeline points to a van based on 2017's ID Buzz concept. The 2022 date is when the van, a spiritual successor to the iconic Microbus, is due to go on sale here.
VW already builds the Passat and Atlas at the Chattanooga plant. A 2-row version of the Atlas to be called an Atlas Cross Sport will begin production at the site later in 2019.
VW may announce additional U.S. production plans very soon. The automaker is expected to announce an expanded tie-up with Ford on Tuesday, and rumor has it the tie-up could see VW use some of Ford's space capacity in the U.S. to build its own models. Stay tuned.
