Volkswagen is the most innovative volume brand for electric drive systems

AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award 2024: Volkswagen impresses with a broad range of innovations for electric range, charging capacity, consumption and electric ecosystem

- CAM analyses innovation activities of around 100 car brands in Europe, Asia and the USA every year

- This year, it collected and evaluated around 1,000 innovations that can deliver a decisive customer advantage in the fierce competition of the global automotive markets

- Volkswagen CEO Schäfer:

The award underlines the innovative advances made in all new ID. models

Volkswagen has received the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award 2024 as the most innovative volume brand in the field of electric drives. The renowned award is presented annually by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). In the opinion of CAM, Volkswagen scores highly thanks to its wide-ranging innovative performance in various technological aspects of electric mobility. The highlights include range improvements, as well as the optimisation of power consumption and charging capacity. In addition, the Volkswagen brand demonstrates its great innovative strength in the area of the electric ecosystem, which significantly increases charging convenience for customers. The ID.7 – the Volkswagen brand’s first electric vehicle in the upper mid-sized segment – was also rated positively.

Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, accepted the award in Wolfsburg:

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.

Some of the innovations assessed by CAM at a glance:

- Volkswagen ID.5: range optimisation up to 556 km in accordance with WLTP

- Volkswagen ID.7: lowest consumption in the segment

- Volkswagen ID.3: maximum charging capacity of the ID.3 increased from 135 kW to 170 kW

- Volkswagen ID. Buzz: preconditioning of the battery, a first for this segment, which starts automatically when a fast charging station is entered as the navigation destination

- Volkswagen ID. Buzz: integrated Plug & Charge function

- Volkswagen ID.7: AP550 permanent magnet electric motor with 210 kW output and 550 Nm torque consumes 50 per cent less power than 150 kW drive motor

- Volkswagen ID.7: market launch as new product in the upper mid-sized segment

CAM – Automotive mobility expertise. The Center of Automotive Management, under the leadership of Professor Stefan Bratzel, has been collating product innovations by global automotive companies and evaluating them according to quantitative and qualitative criteria since 2005. The winners of the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Awards are decided on the basis of the annual AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Report, which is produced using the Center of Automotive Management’s innovation database.

For 2023/24, CAM analysed innovations from 30 global vehicle manufacturers and newcomers, covering around 100 automotive brands. A total of 709 individual OEM 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.