- Volkswagen’s flagship EV, Challenge Trinity, remains to be alive
- The automaker will use its Rivian-sourced electrical structure to construct it right into a Software program-Outlined Car
- VW plans to first implement the SDV structure within the Audi and Porsche manufacturers, adopted by a future electrical variant of the enduring Golf
Volkswagen’s flagship EV, coined “Challenge Trinity,” has been overrated because the German model’s saving grace in a time when VW has gone from only a cool man model to at least one that’s struggling to persuade folks to purchase their automobiles. However, VW has additionally been kicking Trinity’s can down the street, delaying it in favor of different automobiles like the brand new Golf EV and members of the present ID-family lineup. Now we all know why.
It seems that Volkswagen is actually taking to its new partnership with Rivian—in spite of everything, it is spending $5 billion on the three way partnership for a cause. And Trinity? Effectively, its flagship EV needs to be utilizing its new flagship structure. And that is precisely what the automaker plans on doing, in response to Automotive Information.
It seems that Challenge Trinity is alive, though delayed, and remains to be deliberate to have all these nifty options like Degree 4 self-driving. A part of the explanation for that delay is not simply to first transfer ahead with a extra “iconic product,” as VW justifyingly calls the electrified model of the Golf, however to additionally give the automaker a while to determine the best way to greatest implement the brand new Software program-Outlined Car structure borrowed from its joint partnership with Rivian.
“We selected the best way to do the software-defined automobile,” VW’s CEO, Thomas Schafer, throughout a media roundtable. “It’ll occur with Rivian, the three way partnership, the place we put the brand new electrical electronics structure collectively. However we now have additionally determined that we need to begin this journey with a extra iconic product. So we’ll begin with the Golf.”
The Golf will likely be proven in 2029, adopted by Trinity at a later date. Whereas this does not explicitly give a timeline to Trinity’s launch, it does verify earlier reviews from the German newspaper Handelsblatt that Trinity can be pushed again in favor of the Golf EV and that its launch wouldn’t be in 2026 as initially meant. Present rumors level to a reveal in 2032 on the earliest.
That being mentioned, do not anticipate to see one million VW Trinities (or no matter Volkswagen finally ends up calling it) on the street. The automotive is deliberate to be a bespoke product—assume the venerable Phaeton, however electrical as an alternative of the area of interest W12 beneath the hood. I am undecided that is the most effective transfer for Volkswagen proper now, however possibly issues will flip round within the subsequent eight years.
“We simply switched a little bit bit, moved it out a little bit bit, not as a result of we don’t see it as an enormous precedence, however Trinity was by no means designed as a quantity automobile,” mentioned Schafer.
The Golf will not be the primary EV in Volkswagen’s household of manufacturers to get Rivian remedy. Schafer confirmed that Porsche and Audi would be the first manufacturers to obtain the brand new electrical structure as early as 2027. This tracks with the thought of dearer and experimental tech being stuffed in high-end manufacturers earlier than trickling right down to the mass market. However worry not—the structure will ultimately underpin automobiles throughout the VW household of manufacturers, from low cost compacts to luxurious SUVs (and possibly even sport-focused vehicles as effectively).
As for Challenge Trinity, effectively, that also seems to be Volkswagen’s Polaris greater than anything, only a bit delayed now. If spectacular sufficient, possibly Trinity can spark some curiosity again within the VW model for the mass market, even when the automotive is not meant to be inbuilt giant numbers. The essential factor is that Volkswagen is utilizing the tech to construct a thicker spine, and Trinity may very well be some of the essential constructing blocks alongside the way in which.
