24 May 2018

Wolfsburg Germany

Today we went to the Autostadt in Wolfsburg. Here we got to see all of the Volkswagen production vehicles. This group is made up of Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, and Ducati. Upon arrival on a 1.5-hour train we crossed a canal to the plant. The entrance building had the world’s second largest globe and the world’s largest glass doors. The area of this plant was massive it was made up of around 10 buildings of their car brand. My favorite brands were the Bentley and the Porsche building. It was like a kid in a candy shop. There was so many beautiful luxurious cars to look at and go inside.

Vw is currently in process of manufacturing a new t1 bus. It is a new more aerodynamic version. It runs on an electric motor that can last up to 600 kilometers. Its top speed is currently around 164 mph. It can go from 0-60 mph in about 5.5 seconds. This bus can be driven manually and also has a co-pilot operating system to operate this vehicle manually. The driver seat can turn around in this mode to face the back seats. The engine is on the floor on the car located in the front and rear of the vehicle.

The Volkswagen tower of cars holds roughly 4000 cars. After the production line they are stored in this tower until they got bought. Each day, roughly 4000 cars are sold from this plant, meaning that the tower of cars is filled and emptied once per day. This plant can make 3500 cars a day. This tower was a cylindrical design, where a car elevator operates by grabbing on the breaks to store or remove the cars once they leave the lot.

People all over the world stay at a hotel on the site for a weekend to buy cars and to experience this plant. The tour guide mentioned that it takes around 3 to 4 days to fully experience the Autostadt and to take it all in.

When Aidan Sentelik asked the tour guide how is the original paint was still so perfect on the 1952 roadster, the tour guide responded, putting her hand on his shoulder, saying, “hunny, it’s a Porsche!”

 

Later, when leaving this exhibit, she came to young Aidan and said “Porsche doesn’t make cars that people need, Porsche makes cars that people want.”

“In the beginning I looked around but couldn’t find the car I dreamed of, so I decided to build it myself.” -dr. Ing. H.c. Ferry Porsche