VW: Trinity replaces MEB and is expected to bring a "neural" boost

VW brand chief Ralf Brandstätter remains on the gas: Thomas Ulbrich will become the new head of development for the core brand VW passenger cars. This is all the more surprising, as many insiders already saw the E-Mobility board member at other employers. In his new role, Ulbrich, previously the E-Mobility board member, will take the helm from Frank Welsch on February 1st. Welsch will lead the newly established department of Group Quality Management and Strategy. Both are expected to get a grip on the bumpy software development start, which affected not only the Golf VIII but also the ID.3 and ID.4.

And now that "MEB" has already gently aged according to the new, damn fast electric timekeeping and is not among the most efficient platforms, VW is already following up here as well - this time hoping for divine trinity: Under the project name "Trinity", a new electric platform is to be created, on which the model will be presented from 2026. Brandstätter gave some interesting hints about this on LinkedIn.

After the first models based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB), it is time for the next step, says VW. And indeed, many adjustments are being made here: According to Brandstätter, Trinity is "a highly efficient flat-seat concept with iconic design". Trinity is also supposed to advance data exchange within the VW fleet, which the models of the future need for autonomous driving - bringing the other group brands on board as well. VW had fundamentally considered this since 2017, to also exchange data with other vehicle manufacturers for this purpose.

Since Trinity (Latin Trinitas) describes the unity or trinity, the new car is supposed to bring three innovations as well.

• First: Trinity stands for a completely new architecture: VW sees itself as a "global modular champion" and wants to once again take the lead with a highly modern electric flat-floor platform, which includes a brand-new group architecture. In this way, benchmarks are to be set again in range, charging speed, and finally also in digitalization.
• This brings us to the second point: Because Brandstätter also wants to advance autonomous driving through a "neural boost" and thereby "democratize" it. Trinity is expected to reach Level 2+ and be technically prepared for Level 4. According to Brandstätter, scale effects are to be used to build a "learning, neural network for the entire group."
• As a third point, Brandstätter plans an entirely new production approach: The main plant in Wolfsburg is to develop into a flagship for innovative, fully networked production processes.

Many of these contents are already known from the side project "Artemis," which Audi initiated in 2020. Markus Duesmann, who has been not only the Audi but also the head of development for the entire Volkswagen group since April 1, 2020, announced this in June 2020. Artemis is headed by Alex Hitzinger, who has experience with rapid developments as a motorsport chief engineer and is also a driving force behind autonomous driving in the group. To remove the project from the group context, Hitzinger and his team were discreetly "spun off" to develop a groundbreaking model for Audi quickly and unbureaucratically in the first step with Artemis. Duesmann then wants to feedback this back into the entire group. "Artemis" is considered a "speedboat" that the inherently rather sluggish corporate tanker VW has launched. Above all, electric, highly automated driving is to be further developed quickly and straightforwardly.

Project "Landjet": Own Operating System as Goal

This has now evolved into the "Landjet" project, an Audi model that could expand the Ingolstadt lineup in 2024 with new software. This brings us to the "Software.org" operating system in Ingolstadt. Artemis aims to network the new electronics structure and the operating system developed by Software.org based on the new premium modular system "PPE" and thus also form the new framework of Trinity in the medium term. However, Trinity is primarily intended to create a new modular system from software and electronic architecture, which could then potentially replace the MEB. The first production model is supposed to usher in a new era in the volume segment at an affordable price from 2026. It would need to be positioned with a flat floor as a non-SUV between the ID.3 and the Passat-equivalent ID.x, as Trinity will not be an SUV. The second Artemis car, on the other hand, is likely to be a Porsche and could potentially also replace the Taycan and Audi e-tron GT in the future.

At the lower end of the lineup, VW is still working on a stripped-down version of the MEB, to potentially offer group models below the ID.3 and Cupra el born, which are mainly of interest for inner-city fleets and car-sharing. They aim to start here at 20,000 euros gross.

What does this mean?

You can see how quickly the development of e-mobility is progressing not only from the now significantly aged pioneers such as Nissan Leaf, Renault Zoe, or BMW i3, but also from the MEB: Neither the ID.3 nor the ID.4 can currently set benchmarks in efficiency and networking anymore, but they are good state of the art. VW is aware of this and has already launched several "speedboats" to further drive development here. Accordingly, MEB will be further developed in many evolutionary steps, primarily optimizing battery capacity, charging capability, and standard electronics. The next big step, however, is expected to come from Artemis and beyond that, Trinity, with which the VW Group intends to take digitalization to a new level.