How Volkswagen is using escape rooms to prepare employees for an electric future

If you’ve ever been in an escape room, you know how fast pace and intense it can be. Volkswagen is applying the same methodology to train its employees for the future of electric vehicles, but these are not your typical escape rooms.

When you bring your car in for a checkup, it’s not a toolbox anymore the mechanic brings out – it’s often a laptop they carry that can diagnose the issue without having to lift a finger.

As the auto industry rapidly shifts to electric vehicles, automakers are training employees to build and service the future of transportation. Electric vehicles are more sophisticated than their gas-powered predecessors, therefore requiring a different set of skills to work on.

Some automakers like Mercedes-Benz have launched employee training programs to leave employees feeling confident about explaining the benefits and technology of EVs.

Others, such as GM’s Cadillac, required engineers and specialists to inspect the Lyriq EV before dealers were allowed to deliver them to employees to ensure quality.

By using escape rooms, Volkswagen may have the most unique idea yet.

Volkswagen preps for an electric future with escape rooms

In a bid to equip its workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an electric future, the German automaker has designed immersive, collaborative games to ease the transition.

According to Bloomberg, teams of four VW employees are tasked with solving riddles on electric and battery technology as they move through the “escape room” spaces. Teams move from an 1860s-themed living room to the modern era, answering questions and cracking codes to find EV clues to escape.

Gunnar Kilian, Volkswagen’s head of human resources, explains the escape rooms, saying:

This is one building block in the process of bringing the workers into the world of e-mobility.

The project is currently being used at VW’s Wolfsburg headquarters to help transition around 22,000 workers to build EVs.

Volkswagen’s electric ID.3 model will be the first to begin production during the second half of the year. Although the company’s revolutionary Trinity EV project has been put on hold due to software issues, VW is expected to fill the gap in 2026 with an electric version of its best-selling SUV, tipped to be called the ID.Tiguran.

Electrek’s Take

Whatever works, right? Volkswagen using escape rooms to teach employees about electric vehicles and prep them for the future may seem crazy, but it may just work.

First, it teaches them to work together in a fast-paced, demanding environment, and more importantly, employees learn the ins and outs of zero-emission EVs. We’ll see if it can help them build EVs faster.