Volkswagen - which is already the best-selling electric car brand in Ireland - has been awarded the coveted AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award 2024 for its expansion and improvements of its line-up of electric cars.
What is the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award?
It’s an industry award given by the Center of Automotive Management, or CAM. This group uses ‘quantitative and qualitative’ analysis to determine which car makers are making the biggest innovative strides. The awards have been given since 2005.
According to CAM: “For 2023/24, CAM analysed innovations from 30 global vehicle manufacturers and newcomers, covering around 100 automotive brands. A total of 709 individual car company innovations available in series production in the technology fields of electric drive, autonomous driving & ADAS, and infotainment & connectivity were evaluated. These include just under 200 - highly rated - world firsts. The scientific evaluation included criteria such as maturity level, originality, customer benefit and degree of innovation. In addition, around 300 additional pre-series innovations or concept vehicles indicate the future development trends of vehicle manufacturers.
So what did VW do that was so awards-worthy?
Well, there’s a whole raft of things that CAM noted as being worth giving VW the award, including extending the ranges of its current electric car line-up, with the ID.5, for example, now capable of 556km on one charge. Then there’s the ID.7 saloon, which has the lowest claimed energy consumption in its segment, and the ID.3, which saw its charging speed go from a maximum of 135kW to 170kW. Or there’s the ID. Buzz, which now has a battery that pre-conditions as soon as you enter a fast charging point into the sat-nav, as well has having a ‘plug-and-charge’ function that takes away the need for RFID or credit cards. The biggest of all innovations, arguably, is the new AP550 permanent synchronous magnet motor (which is currently rolling out in all of VW’s ID line-up,) which has 210kW of power (286hp) and 550Nm of torque but which has 50 per cent less energy consumption of the previous 150kW motor.
Volkswagen must be pretty chuffed about all this
Oh yes. Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, accepted the award in Wolfsburg and said: “Truly impressive vehicles are a prerequisite for the success of electric mobility. This coveted award underlines the innovative advances made in all new ID. models. Our Volkswagen electric cars have become even more attractive and offer customers a significant increase in comfort, performance and dynamics. Be it for electrically or conventionally powered vehicles, we will continue to push forward to introduce technical innovations on a broad scale. After all, this is and will remain a core aspect of the Volkswagen brand.”