The next-generation Volkswagen Golf will be one of the first models from the German manufacturer to use a new software system jointly developed with Rivian, Autocar has reported.
Set to be called to the ID Golf, the stalwart nameplate enters its ninth generation and is set to be fully electric, built on the Volkswagen Group’s SSP EV architecture.
Moving to a software-driven vehicle architecture will help reduce development and production costs for the price-sensitive production version of the ID.Every1, though the decision was also made partly to develop the architecture of the next-generation Golf, said Volkswagen technical head Kai Grünitz.
Termed as zonal architecture, the new software system being developed by the Volkswagen and Rivian joint venture consolidates all software systems into a handful of electronic control units, instead of running the systems on separate control units as is the case with current cars, according to Åutocar.
This setup will enable Volkswagen to offer different levels of functions in different segments of vehicles using the same software system, said Grünitz.
“The benefit of the zonal architecture is that I can put one, two or three zones in a vehicle. Vehicles in lower price segments will just need one zone, while a premium vehicle might need three or four, depending on functions,” he said.
“I can use a dedicated system-on-chip [SoC] family for each model. So for the ID 1, I can use an SoC with a lower price point and complexity, but if I take the same architecture over to the Golf, I can use a different SoC that costs more money but gives additional functions, but it’s still the same software,” he continued.
The switch to the manufacturer’s new SSP platform will also see the ID Golf use an 800-volt electrical architecture, which will enable “substantially faster” charging times and better efficiency that current-generation Volkswagen ID electric vehicles, according to the publication.
The ID Golf will also be one of the first from Volkswagen to use unified battery cells, which will be installed in around 80% of future Volkswagen Group models and can be used to house a range of different battery chemistries and technologies. Using a cell-to-pack design, this enables more cells to be installed in a given space, bringing more battery capacity, Autocar wrote.
Meanwhile, production of the combustion-engined Golf will move from the brand’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany where the existing Mk8 Golf is produced, to Puebla in Mexico.
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