Series production of the ID.3 started:

The gray-painted body of the ID.3¹ rests securely in its hanger. But now there's a hitch: The body doesn't like to move to the robot that stamps the chassis number into the sheet metal. It is the first work step in the almost rebuilt production line at the Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden. Between the time the last e-Golf² rolled off the line and the planned start of production of the ID.3¹, there were only a few weeks to convert the production line to the ID.3¹. A reporter accompanied the exciting conversion phase for us with camera and pen.

Small difficulties do not upset Stefan Ochocki. The project coordinator for assembly planning has been in Dresden since it opened in 2001 and has seen it all here: Phaeton, Bentley Flying Spur, e-Golf² and now just the ID.3¹. "It always has to jolt at the beginning," says Ochocki in a relaxed tone. Such issues can be resolved, and the start of series production will not fail because of the chassis number. It would be more difficult if things were to falter at the newly established panoramic glass roof station. The e-Golf² did not have such a feature, so proven assembly technology cannot be used here. The same applies to the pre-assembly of the tailgate or the assembly of the power train and chassis. "These are new processes for us," adds Thomas Kunert, project manager for the ID.3¹ vehicle startup, adding, however, that a major advantage is that electromobility is not a new topic at the site. The transformation to the new drive type already took place in 2017. The team is now benefiting again from the experience gained from the start-up of the e-Golf², report Kunert and Ochocki.

The high demand for the e-Golf² made the assembly conversion an open-heart operation. The e-Golf² was produced until shortly before Christmas. The mounting points of the hangers and the assembly tables had to be changed during ongoing operations in order to be able to move both the e-Golf² and the ID.3¹ safely through the plant.

As early as the summer vacations, during the first part of the conversion, the most visible change in the plant was created: a large steel arch, called a portal, now stands at the point where the marriage between chassis and body occurs. Because the ID.3¹ is heavier than the e-Golf², its springs are also stronger - and correspondingly more forces are required when joining the upper and lower parts. "We used to hold it in place with two ropes, but the joining forces required are now three times as high," says Stefan Ochocki.

This is why the new gantry was created, which will also impress visitors to the Transparent Factory in the future. Before the pandemic, around 145,000 interested visitors from all over the world came to the site each year. Many of them booked one of the popular guided tours in ten languages.

This will remain the case when the site switches to single-shift operation for the time being. Then there will be less staff needed in production - but none of the approximately 380 employees will have to leave. Those who do not build cars will be qualified for other tasks. The works council and the company have agreed on this. New jobs will be created in sales, for example. The number of deliveries in Dresden is to increase significantly. The target for 2022: 9,700 deliveries of various models - which requires qualified personnel.

In the first weeks of January, production was officially at a standstill, and the conveyor system was at a standstill. Nevertheless, semi-finished ID.3¹s could be seen from time to time - for employee training. "In the summer, we sent team and group leaders to Zwickau to help out. We call them multipliers; they are now virtually the teachers for their colleagues," says project manager Kunert.

Zwickau is the main location for the production of the ID.3¹, where several hundred thousand all-electric cars are to be built each year starting in 2021, if the Corona pandemic permits. Employees from Zwickau have therefore been and continue to be in Dresden to support their colleagues during the ramp-up. "But we can't adopt the work steps from Zwickau one-to-one," says Kunert. The different layout of the sites does not allow that.

At the start at the end of January, six ID.3¹s will initially be built per day before the number of units gradually increases. "The flat start-up curve is important so that the processes can settle in as well as possible," says Thomas Kunert. After the start-up phase, 35 all-electric ID.3¹s are to be built in Dresden every day. By then, at the latest, the hanger on the embossing robot will also no longer hook.