The VW brand's internal magazine Insight interviewed leader Herbert Diess, who said a "breakthrough" is coming with engineers "developing a special vehicle architecture that foresees the installation of flat batteries." This is a big move, up to now Volkswagen having touted the novel shapes it was making of battery packs to get the most range out of offerings like the e-Golf.
VW's shift to a flat battery pack will likely have a future with the MEB architecture announced in October, which will serve a multi-brand series of compact passenger and commercial EVs with ranges between 250 and 500 km. Back in April the automaker revealed it was working on a retro-inspired electric camper van, and the flat battery pack might make an appearance in the aforementioned architecture when the concept is shown off at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show.
