Photo credit: Volkswagen

German automaker Volkswagen has formally kicked off the production of the ID.4, a new electric car from the company that’s a successor to the well-known ID.3. Production of the new vehicle has officially begun at a manufacturing facility in the German town of Zwickau. The facility, in particular, is a large manufacturing plant that’s being entirely overhauled to primarily produce electric vehicles. Volkswagen is coughing up the sum of €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) for the overhaul and expects to produce 300,000 electric vehicles at the plant next year. Beginning in 2021, the Zwickau plant will exist to solely produce Volkswagen’s electric vehicles.

Volkswagen is on course to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050. On that course, it expects to have produced 1.5 million electric cars by 2025. Volkswagen has pledged to spend tens of billions of dollars to move towards an electric future, with the ID.4 falling under its commitment. The ID.4, in particular, is a spacious electric SUV that’ll be operated primarily by touchscreen and intuitive voice control.