FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen has signed German start-up e.GO Mobile as the first external partner for its modular platform for electric vehicles (EV), as it seeks to simplify production across a variety of models. <\/p>\n
A Volkswagen logo is pictured in a production line at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany March 1, 2019. Picture taken March 1, 2019. REUTERS\/Fabian Bimmer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n The partner will use VW\u2019s so-called MEB production system to \u201cbring e-vehicles to market that complement Volkswagen\u2019s model offering,\u201d the carmaker said in a statement. <\/p>\n A specific vehicle has yet to be decided on jointly, it added. <\/p>\n The VW brand\u2019s strategy chief Michael Jost said in a newspaper interview in January the group was in advanced talks with competitors over opening its modular EV production platform to rivals. <\/p>\n The platform seeks the cost advantages of large production numbers by standardizing as much as possible even across very different models. <\/p>\n Volkswagen in January said it was exploring joint development of e-vehicles with Ford, under a wide-ranging partnership. <\/p>\n The German group plans to invest 30 billion euros ($34 billion) in e-mobility until 2023, it said in a statement on the eve of the Geneva car show. <\/p>\n The carmaker\u2019s electric-vehicle investment budget outstrips that of its closest competitors, in pursuit of profitable mass-production of electric vehicles, something that no carmaker has come close to achieving. <\/p>\n E.GO Mobile helped develop a delivery van that is being produced by a subsidiary of postal services group Deutsche Post. <\/p>\n Among e.GO\u2019s other projects, it aims to bring an electric minibus to market in a joint venture with German autos supplier ZF Friedrichshafen. <\/p>\n Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Mark Potter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n