Volkswagen's New SSP EV Platform Will Accommodate a Range-Extending Gas Engine
Volkswagen’s Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) has been delayed until later this decade, but the automaker is sharing new details on the upcoming architecture. The automaker recently outlined the platform’s engineering, saying that it could accommodate an internal combustion engine, though not in the way you probably expect.
VW Group will introduce range-extending gas engines with the new platform, similar to configurations seen recently from Scout, Ram, and others. The internal combustion engine only acts as a generator to charge the batteries and does not power the wheels in any way.
Given Volkswagen’s ownership of Scout, this isn’t a very surprising move. The automaker recently issued a teaser image for upcoming models based on the technology, which shows five different body styles, and reports suggest that we could see as many as eight different models in a range of segments.
While we don’t know the full line of SSP-underpinned vehicles yet, we do know that VW plans to employ the architecture on the upcoming electric Golf, which will be built in Germany. It is expected to launch near the end of the 2020s and will sell alongside the gas-powered model for a time.
Despite VW’s gung-ho attitude toward range-extended EVs in other markets, the company’s European executives aren’t sold on the tech. CEO Thomas Schafer told reporters that the vehicles are too expensive to engineer, saying that modern plug-in hybrids already achieve much of the same result at a lower price.
[Images: Volkswagen]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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VW is the future.
("VW Group CEO Oliver Blume stated: “We aim to be the global technology driver for the automotive industry."" Well now it is settled.)
Sounds like the worst of both worlds. A plug in hybrid with 50 miles of EV range would suit most buyers.