More than 700 kilometers of range, short charging times thanks to 800 volt technology as in Porsche, and 0 to 100 km/h acceleration in less than five seconds: VW, Tesla and Co. Four-door electric coupé Trinity from 2026. The 4.70 meter wing should be able to drive autonomously from the start at level 2 and then also at level 4. The kernel should be a new operating system developed at VW’s own software company, Cariad.
But it won’t be that soon with the VW Superstromer. As reported by trade magazine “Automobilwoche”, Trinity, among others, will come much later – probably not until 2030, as “Manager Magazine” suspects. The reason: The design has failed with VW’s new CEO Oliver Blume (54) and new VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (52) in office since September. The Trinity was planned as a flat coupe and thus went beyond customer needs. As a mass brand, VW should present the new electric model in the currently most popular segment, namely an SUV. Stromer should be redesigned accordingly.
New study planned
Technical issues are likely to be just as severe. Blume’s predecessor, Herbert Diess (64), had to leave at the end of August. The supervisory board blamed him for problems with the launch of electric ID models – and he failed to actually get the Cariad up and running. As such, Trinity software probably won’t be ready until 2029. The launch of the model as early as 2026 is therefore misleading. Also, Diess had repeatedly caused unrest among employees with the planned new factories: He was also planning a new building for Trinity and talked about layoffs at the main plant in Wolfsburg (Germany).
Autonomous driving seems difficult
But the new Trinity plant is now on the brink: If the model had been delayed for so long, there would have been enough time to set up a Trinity assembly line at the Wolfsburg plant, thanks to the predictable decline in production of combustion models. Blume wants to notify VW’s supervisory board of the Trinity timeline changes on December 15; According to Reuters, the final decision on investments in the project should be made in February. Construction of the Trinity plant should have started as early as 2023, for which it was estimated at two billion euros.
The biggest problems with the new software are said to be autonomous driving functions. Accordingly, VW is now pooling its resources in Cariad. In October, Volkswagen and US automaker Ford announced that they would shut down joint technology company Argo AI in Pittsburgh (USA) and split employees between the two automakers. Argo AI worked on highly autonomous driving technology on behalf of the two automakers.