VW Group Willing To Share Premium EV Tech With Rivals

The VW Group is talking to other carmakers about sharing their so-called Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, underpinning future Porsche and Audi electric models. The goal is to build scale and spread development costs.

“There’s definitely interest,” stated Ulrich Widmann, head of development at Audi for this joint engineering project. “We’re having conversations. Sharing technology to generate scale effects is the only way to achieve the turnaround in electric cars, both economically and ecologically.”

The Audi exec however didn’t name any names as far as what manufacturers have shown interest in adopting the PPE platform, as reported by Autonews Europe.

“Given the huge research and development investment required for the transition to battery-electric vehicles, many smaller luxury names could be interested including Aston Martin, McLaren and Maserati,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean, who then added: “You couldn’t rule out BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which would provide a German premium solution.”

VW has already signed a deal with Ford allowing the latter to use the German automaker’s main electric car platform, a deal that’s reportedly worth between $10 billion and $20 billion over six years.

Also read: Audi Teases A Mysterious New E-Tron Electric Concept Car

Audi is planning on launching 30 electrified models by 2025, two-thirds of which will be fully electric. One such model has recently been teased in the form of a new e-Tron electric concept, similar in size to the A7 Sportback and based on the PPE platform, reportedly.

In time, Audi’s entire lineup will be electrified, including entry-level models such as the A3.