Volkswagen teases Project Trinity as its next flagship electric car
German automaker Volkswagen is working on a new flagship electric vehicle, called Project Trinity, the company's CEO, Ralf Brandstätter has confirmed via a LinkedIn post. As the name implies, the upcoming EV will have three main elements in the form of a new architecture, autonomous driving technology, and will be built using a "radically new production approach." Here are more details.
Project Trinity will be based on a 'flat-panel electrical platform'
As described by Brandstätter, Project Trinity is a "highly efficient flat seat concept with an iconic design." The company has not shared any prototype designs but confirmed that the new EV platform will use "state-of-the-art flat-panel electrical platform" to offer spacious cabin. This advanced bespoke architecture is currently under development and will eventually form the backbone of all future Volkswagen EVs.
Autonomous driving and neural boost
With Project Trinity, Volkswagen aims to "democratize" autonomous driving. The EV will be launched with "Level 2+" autonomous functions that are likely to include driver monitoring, automated emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control. However, going forward, the company will offer Level 4 autonomous driving, suggesting it will have full-fledged self-driving capabilities - similar to Alphabet's Waymo, which currently offers limited Level 4 autonomous driving.
The company will mostly use in-house software
Project Trinity will implement greater use of in-house software in order to achieve higher level of automated driving. Volkswagen is currently developing a new high-end operating system called VW.OS, which is likely to debut with Project Trinity.
Volkswagen will also employ a 'radically new production approach'
Brandstätter has confirmed that the company's Wolfsburg base in Germany will become the lead factory for building "innovative electric cars in a highly efficient and economical way." He noted that the company will use a "radically new production approach" for making its upcoming Project Trinity EV and make its Wolfsburg plant "a flagship for innovative, fully networked production processes."
