Volkswagen of America is planning to offer its new midsized sedan next year in at least eight colors.
But regardless what hue the new vehicles display, the way the VW cars are painted will be the greenest of any auto plant, company officials said Monday.
“What makes us the most green paint shop in the world is that we have 10 features for reducing emissions and limiting the use of energy and water resources,” said Lothar Grensemann, general manager of the paint shop at the new $1 billion Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga. “The process allows us not to have to apply a primer, and reduces our carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent below our other plants.”
Along 2.8 miles of conveyor lines, the Volkswagen auto bodies are flipped and dipped into 10 water and paint tanks to coat and protect the new vehicles. The unique process, which uses 56 robots and the world’s first E-shuttle transport line, takes about two hours for each vehicle. The process finishes with a top paint and wax sprayed on the vehicle body by robots at the end of the four-level paint shop.
On Monday, VW was testing the paint lines on new test versions of Volkswagen’s new Jetta model that is being assembled in Mexico. But since Sept. 1, the paint shop also has been testing the operation on the first new midsize sedans being produced for road tests in Chattanooga.
Leslie Williams, paint specialist for the pre-treatment paint area, said the primerless painting uses waterborne paints that bond with the electrically-charged metal of the VW chassis when submerged in a 15-foot deep tank.
The paint shop also includes EcoDry scrubbing systems, energy-efficient motors and state-of-the-art air exhaust and water purification systems, Williams said.
“There is a lot of flow and voltage control that we carefully regulate in the (118,000-gallon) tank to get the best quality,” she said. “This is one of the most sophisticated paint processes anywhere.”
Following the application of the Electro-coat, the vehicles are put in ovens heated above 428 degrees Fahrenheit to dry and bake the undercoating.
Volkswagen brags that its vehicle paints have a 12-year life and the new application process uses far less paint, water and energy than other auto paint shops. Grensemann said the new plant can paint 31 vehicles per hour, and will be capable of producing even more if Volkswagen decides to expand its vehicle output behind its initial target of 150,000 car a year.
Volkswagen selected Eisenmann AG, a German-based automotive contractor, to install its paint lines in the Chattanooga plant last year. Eisenmann’s newly developed “E-shuttle” is being used for the first time at the plant to swing the car body into dipping baths along the E-coat and paint conveyer line.
“So far, we are in really good shape and remain on schedule,” said Thomas Hibinger, project manager for Eisenmann’s project in Chattanooga.
VW’s Chattanooga plant is slated to start production early next year and employ over 2,000 people when in full production.
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