A few days ago, ABB Robotics and SAIC Volkswagen formally signed an agreement to provide Volkswagen’s world’s first new energy vehicle factory in Anting, Shanghai with advanced Robotic painting solutions to help it build an automated, energy-saving and environmentally friendly new energy vehicle manufacturing plant. The plant is based on Volkswagen’s modular pure electric platform and is designed for the mass production of electric vehicles.

The new energy vehicle factory of SAIC Volkswagen has a total construction area of ​​about 610,000 square meters. It will be located in Anting, Shanghai. It is planned to be completed and put into operation in 2020, with a planned annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles. In the future, it will produce vehicles including Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda and other brands. A variety of new pure electric SUV models.

This is the first large-scale automatic painting project provided by ABB for SAIC Volkswagen. According to the agreement, ABB Robotics will provide spraying and gluing solutions including nearly 300 Robots for SAIC Volkswagen’s new energy vehicle factory, covering exterior surface spraying, interior spraying, vehicle bottom gluing, car interior gluing, and inner panel waxing , covering all three automated painting lines in the new factory.

We are proud to support China’s fast-growing EV market and extend our partnership with Volkswagen to help expand EV production capacity. This is also a recognition of ABB’s presence in the entire electric vehicle field, especially ABB’s robotic automation technology, which is supported by ABB’s global application centers in China, Europe and the United States. “

At present, the automobile industry is undergoing unprecedented changes, and electrification and digitization have become an inevitable trend. SAIC Volkswagen is actively participating in this change. The new energy vehicle plant is an important part of SAIC Volkswagen’s future-oriented improvement of its strategic layout. In the future, the new energy vehicle factory will become an intelligent, flexible and agile electric vehicle production base for SAIC Volkswagen, helping the company to become a leader in the electric vehicle market in terms of technology and sales, and bringing advanced technology and reliable performance to Chinese consumers. of diverse choices. “

The new factory, with a total investment of 17 billion yuan, is a modern green benchmark factory integrating intelligent manufacturing and environmental protection technologies such as water saving, energy saving and carbon emission reduction. The solutions provided by ABB meet Volkswagen’s world-leading water-based paint 2010v process standards, and are energy-saving and environmentally friendly. The intermediate coating-free process adopted can improve the utilization rate of paint and reduce waste. Compared with the traditional painting process, the dry paint mist absorption system is used instead of the water circulation system, and the paint mist is absorbed by the circulating air and limestone to avoid water loss and waste water generation. Up to 95% of the air is recycled, and the limestone can be recycled, thereby saving up to 60% of energy, and the emission of organic solvents will also be reduced by 63%.

At the same time, the rapid motion acceleration of ABB robots, the fine control of the large flow of the atomizer, and the rich experience of the engineering team make the total cycle time of the three coating production lines reach 120JPH, which is the highest production efficiency in a single painting workshop. In addition, all ABB robots will be able to access the ABB AbilityTM digital platform to prepare for the future digital layout of the factory.

China is the world’s largest automobile producer. In recent years, the automobile industry is rapidly developing towards electrification and intelligence. As one of the most well-known and oldest auto joint ventures in China, SAIC Volkswagen is actively deploying in the field of new energy vehicles. In late October 2018, SAIC Volkswagen’s first new energy vehicle, the Tiguan L plug-in hybrid model, was officially launched. The Passat plug-in hybrid model and the Lavida pure electric model will also be launched one after another. The start of the new energy vehicle plant marks another solid step for SAIC Volkswagen towards the goal of becoming a leader in electric vehicles.

—ABB and sustainable transportation

Facing the changing Chinese automotive industry, ABB, as a global technology leader, is also actively expanding its own technologies and capabilities to support the construction of a future-oriented and sustainable transportation system in China. In addition to providing solutions for the production process of new energy vehicles, ABB is also a global leader in the field of DC fast charging. At present, 10,500 fast charging piles have been installed in 73 countries around the world, and all of them have been connected to the internet. At the same time, ABB is also the title partner of the FIA ​​Formula E Championship, expanding the boundaries of e-mobility technology by providing leading technologies. The ABB FIA Formula E Championship 2018-2019 season two races in Hong Kong, China and Sanya, Hainan Province were successfully held in March this year.

—The history of cooperation between ABB Robotics and SAIC Volkswagen

Since entering the Chinese market in 1994, the first order of ABB robots in China came from SAIC Volkswagen (formerly Shanghai Volkswagen). At that time, ABB provided six spot welding robots for the assembly station of the Santana model production line, which greatly improved production. Efficiency and quality. For more than 20 years, ABB has provided SAIC Volkswagen with a series of advanced spraying and welding solutions, and has also built a number of painting production lines for FAW-Volkswagen, another joint venture of Volkswagen in China, involving more than one robot. Thousands. The cooperation on Volkswagen’s world’s first new energy vehicle factory project is a milestone development of the partnership between ABB Robotics and SAIC Volkswagen. In the future, the two parties will carry out more comprehensive and in-depth cooperation to promote the transformation of the automotive industry towards electrification and intelligence, and lead the future mobility revolution.