- volkswagen is offering a tour and build experience at the company's transparent factory in dresden, germany.
- visitors can help build a volkswagen e-golf at five different stations, with the help of an employee.
- the e-golf will soon be replaced by the id.3, and in 2021, the tour will be changed as well.
who hasn't thought about a dream vacation to germany to drive on the autobahn, see the nürburgring, and visit the museums and factories of major automakers such as porsche, mercedes, bmw, audi, and volkswagen? with any luck, we'll all be able to contemplate actually doing that in the not too distant future as world travel becomes more possible. and when that day comes, one stop to add to the itinerary will be vw's production-line tour, where visitors can help build the e-golf ev.
volkswagen's transparent factory in dresden lets visitors accompany vehicles as they travel along the production line, and they can step in and help build an e-golf—closely supervised and assisted by volkswagen factory employees, of course. there are five spots where visitors can help assemble the e-golf: attaching the e-golf logo, connecting the powertrain and body, fitting the taillights in the tailgate, installing the radiator, and putting on the front grille with the volkswagen logo.
the tour, called mach-mit ("do your part") costs the equivalent of about $240, lasts two and a half hours, and takes place on weekdays in two prearranged time slots, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. the tour includes a guided visit to exhibition areas and a welcome drink. during the coronavirus pandemic, vw has safety measures in place, including limits of four visitors per tour, with face masks required.
the tour and build experience, of course, are part of volkswagen's push to show the public the benefits of electric vehicles—as vw head of sales arnd meyer-clasen puts it, to show "what tomorrow's mobility means for volkswagen." and it's an idea vw has to itself: porsche, mercedes-benz, bmw, and audi all offer european delivery experiences, but they don’t allow customers to get involved in carmaking even on this limited basis.
from 2021 onward, the tour and build experience at the factory will be with the upcoming id.3 instead. the id.3 is unlikely to make it stateside, which might be all the more reason to put this tour on your bucket list.