[Mike Bouck]

AutoNetwork just uploaded this 360 degree video of the under-construction ID.4 assembly line in Chattanooga, TN. Shot on a tour in September of 2021 VWoA plans on rolling American-built ID.4s off this assembly line in about a year.

Update: AutoNetwork released a companion video with a VWoA representative describing their Chattanooga ID.4 plans.

 

[Kitt]

So what will happen between now and a year? The factory looks finished, the first Chattanooga-built cars are being tested (as reported by multiple EV sites). What's keeping VW from starting mass-production now or in a few months? It seems odd to keep a super expensive new factory empty for a year.

 

[ericy]

So what will happen between now and a year? The factory looks finished, the first Chattanooga-built cars are being tested (as reported by multiple EV sites). What's keeping VW from starting mass-production now or in a few months? It seems odd to keep a super expensive new factory empty for a year.

I watched the video - sort of. The audio was horrible - I couldn't hear what the guy was saying. They were far too focused on taking video.

I suspect the main issues remaining are that the SK battery plant needs to be up and running and able to deliver batteries regularly. All other suppliers need to be up and ready to go as well. They need to have enough people trained to run the line, and they need to go over the cars that they did produce with a fine-tooth comb looking for issues so they can debug any issues that there might be in the production process. Finally, I expect they will want to take the cars they did produce, put them on the road and just beat them to hell just to make sure that they hold up.

 

[Mike Bouck]

So what will happen between now and a year? The factory looks finished, the first Chattanooga-built cars are being tested (as reported by multiple EV sites). What's keeping VW from starting mass-production now or in a few months? It seems odd to keep a super expensive new factory empty for a year.

As complete as the assembly line looks there is a lot left to do. They have to complete programming/calibrating the robots, bring the paint shop and cell manufacturing online, etc. Not to mention training the assembly workers. Take a look at the Zwickau plant for comparison:

 

[Fahrer]

So what will happen between now and a year? The factory looks finished, the first Chattanooga-built cars are being tested (as reported by multiple EV sites). What's keeping VW from starting mass-production now or in a few months? It seems odd to keep a super expensive new factory empty for a year.

Even after the plant is completed there are a lot of important details to get fine tuned. In the mean time the employees are getting used to how the cars should go together, how they should look when completed and learning what challenges may exist in the process.

Believe me, you don't want any of the cars they are producing there at this time.

 

[Kitt]

@Mike Bouck So they're using the existing paint shop which is shared with the ICE car assembly at the same site. You usually schedule training as much as possible before the structure is completed (though perhaps with COVID that might nog have been so easy since to fly people in from Zwickau). I don't know how car manufacturers work, but I do know how other other high-tech manufacturers work, and taking a full year to start production is extreme. Tesla started building their Austin and Berlin sites from scratch after VW expanded Chattanooga and both sites will be starting production this year. So it's still a mystery to me why the need a full year.

 

[Kitt]

Even after the plant is completed there are a lot of important details to get fine tuned. In the mean time the employees are getting used to how the cars should go together, how they should look when completed and learning what challenges may exist in the process.

Believe me, you don't want any of the cars they are producing there at this time.

Do you have inside information about the first ID4 batches produced earlier this month or are you speculating?

 

[Kitt]

I watched the video - sort of. The audio was horrible - I couldn't hear what the guy was saying. They were far too focused on taking video.

I suspect the main issues remaining are that the SK battery plant needs to be up and running and able to deliver batteries regularly. All other suppliers need to be up and ready to go as well.

The supply chain might be impacted by COVID, but should be relatively easy to schedule for a company like VW (it's what they have to do for every new model). But the SK Battery supply could indeed be an issue. I saw VW has a new battery packaging facility in Chattanooga, but the batteries itself are indeed produced elsewhere. If SK's US factory is delayed due to the LG lawsuit or other reasons, then there's not much VW else can do than to wait. Of all the speculation, a delay at SK makes most sense.

 

[Mike Bouck]

@Mike Bouck So they're using the existing paint shop which is shared with the ICE car assembly at the same site. You usually schedule training as much as possible before the structure is completed (though perhaps with COVID that might nog have been so easy since to fly people in from Zwickau). I don't know how car manufacturers work, but I do know how other other high-tech manufacturers work, and taking a full year to start production is extreme. Tesla started building their Austin and Berlin sites from scratch after VW expanded Chattanooga and both sites will be starting production this year. So it's still a mystery to me why the need a full year.

Commissioning a new assembly line is a non-trivial task. Even for Tesla. And if you think Tesla will have any production at either Austin or Berlin this year I have a bridge to sell you.

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[Nai3t]

I toured the Jelly Belly factory once on a non-production day. We spent an hour looking down at idle machines, empty tables, non-moving conveyers, frozen robot-arm, and stacks of empty boxes. This video felt kind of like that.

I find this plus the "what color is this dress" video actually really interesting though -- it looks like unlike Zwickau, which I believe only turns out MEB platform vehicles, Chattanooga is going to co-mingle final assembly with their ICE lineup.

I wonder how much that complicates the assembly process, not only from a human factors standpoint, but for factory automation? I assume they can't just transfer everything they have at Zwickau over to Chattanooga.

 

[ericy]

I wonder how much that complicates the assembly process, not only from a human factors standpoint, but for factory automation? I assume they can't just transfer everything they have at Zwickau over to Chattanooga.

I thought they were setting up a brand new line in Chattanooga, so the assembly line itself is only making MEB.

 

[Fahrer]

Do you have inside information about the first ID4 batches produced earlier this month or are you speculating?

No inside info. This standard practice in the auto industry. Production for sales will not be ready until about a year from now.

 

[Nai3t]

I thought they were setting up a brand new line in Chattanooga, so the assembly line itself is only making MEB.

That's what I assumed, too. But if they can collate final assembly, wouldn't they? (I don't know!) Although all that pre-final assembly stuff with the robots and battery trays, that all looks MEB-specific.

 

[Fahrer]

I thought they were setting up a brand new line in Chattanooga, so the assembly line itself is only making MEB.

Passat production is ending. My guess is that Passat production capacity will be converted to MEB production.

 

[Kitt]

Passat production is ending. My guess is that Passat production capacity will be converted to MEB production.

In a presentation a few weeks ago in Chattanooga (I don't have the YouTube link at hand) VW showed that two new structures were added to the existing factory: one structure for body in white (assembly of MEB vehicles) and a structure for battery pack assembly (just the packs, not the cells). The existing paintshop will be used for MEB vehicles.

The Passat is still being manufactured but will end "soon." I don't think they mentioned what will happen to the Passat production line, but it definitely will not be used for the ID4, since that will take place in the new structure. Maybe (this is pure speculation) the Passat line will be remodeled for MEB and ID Buzz production. Who knows? But the transformation can only start after the Passat production has ended.

 

[Mike Bouck]

In a presentation a few weeks ago in Chattanooga (I don't have the YouTube link at hand) VW showed that two new structures were added to the existing factory: one structure for body in white (assembly of MEB vehicles) and a structure for battery pack assembly (just the packs, not the cells). The existing paintshop will be used for MEB vehicles.

The Passat is still being manufactured but will end "soon." I don't think they mentioned what will happen to the Passat production line, but it definitely will not be used for the ID4, since that will take place in the new structure. Maybe (this is pure speculation) the Passat line will be remodeled for MEB and ID Buzz production. Who knows? But the transformation can only start after the Passat production has ended.

I added the companion presentation you were referencing to this thread.

 

[Kitt]

I added the companion presentation you were referencing to this thread.

Thanks for finding it!