The small EVs will use a shortened version of VW Group's Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB) architecture. They will be subcompact-sized at about 4000mm (1575 inches) long. Seat will launch the first model in the family around 2023, then "multiple versions" will be sold across the group’s brands, VW Group CEO Herbert Diess said.
The small EV family will be a great step toward an "even more affordable electric mobility," Diess told journalists at a press conference at Seat’s headquarters in Martorell, Spain, on Wednesday. Finding savings will be key to tackle the high cost associated with electric cars compared with their combustion engine equivalents. Diess said the platform will be cheap enough to keep down retail prices. "It enables us to realize the first electric vehicle that is especially designed for urban journeys available for less than 20,000 euros," he said.
Seat CEO Luca de Meo said more than 300 engineers will work on the entry level EVs at the brand's technical center. The decision where to build the cars has not been made, he said.
So far only Skoda's Kvasiny plant in the Czech Republic has been named by VW Group as a production site for the MEB entry range, but it’s not clear if Skoda will build the car for other brands, as it does with the Seat Ateca SUV produced in Kvasiny.