{"id":134522,"date":"2019-03-12T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T14:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=134522"},"modified":"2019-03-12T10:45:37","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T14:45:37","slug":"vw-expects-to-sell-22-million-evs-over-next-decade","status":"publish","type":"reviews","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/reviews\/vw-expects-to-sell-22-million-evs-over-next-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"VW Expects to Sell 22 Million EVs Over Next Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VW CEO Herbert Diess is shown here with the I.D. Crozz and Buzz concept vehicles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Germany\u2019s Volkswagen AG expects to sell 22 million battery-electric vehicles over the next decade, CEO Herbert Diess said during the company\u2019s annual meeting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The carmaker has been on an aggressive push into electrification and has outlined projects expected to cost it close to $100 billion by 2025 alone. But, until today, Diess had set a target of selling just 15 million battery-cars. Either figure would mark a massive increase considering VW sold just 50,000 all-electric vehicles last year.<\/p>\n

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Electrification News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe supertanker is picking up speed,\u201d Diess said Tuesday in a speech to shareholders gathered in Frankfurt. \u201cWe are aligning Volkswagen with e-mobility like no other company in our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until a few years ago, Volkswagen was a reluctant participant, at best, in electrification, with a handful of products like the e-Golf, an all-electric version of its popular compact product line. The automaker shifted rapidly in the wake of its admission that it cheated on diesel emissions tests, a scandal that has so far cost it more than $30 billion.<\/p>\n

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VW showed off an all-electric dune buggy concept at the Geneva Motor Show last week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The key to the expanded program is the launch of an all-new sub-brand, Volkswagen I.D., which will focus exclusively on battery-electric vehicles. The first model is set to roll off an assembly line in Zwickau, Germany, later this year. And VW is gearing up a number of other plants to handle electrified products. In January, Diess announced during an appearance in Detroit that the automaker will invest $800 million in its Chattanooga, Tennessee factory to produce two future battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/a>\u00a0to see\u00a0more about VW\u2019s $800 million EV plant coming to Chattanooga.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The I.D. brand will cover a broad spectrum, from a planned entry-level offering expected to come in at under $30,000 all the way up to large sedans, SUV and even a new version of its legendary Microbus to be called the I.D. Buzz.<\/p>\n

All told, Volkswagen officials announced during a media briefing in Chicago last month that they will produce \u201c50-plus\u201d BEVs by 2025, though that list will include not only VW I.D. models but also all-electric offerings marketed through the rest of the carmaker\u2019s dozen passenger vehicle brands.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> to check out the VW I.D. Dune Buggy concept.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That includes not only low-end SEAT and Skoda, but high-line marques such as Porsche and Audi. The sports car brand is set to begin production of its first all-electric model, the Taycan, this year, with an SUV version to follow in 2020. Late last month, Porsche announced plans to add an all-electric version of its Macan crossover, as well.<\/p>\n

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While the focus is shifting to all-electric models, the VW Group will also produce more plug-in hybrids, like these four unveiled by Audi in Geneva last week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for Audi, meanwhile, it showed off the Q4 e-tron battery-electric concept at the Geneva Motor Show last week. It is expected to go into production in 2021. Audi will also get into the BEV market this year with the e-tron SUV, and it is developing a sports car version for early in the coming decade. It will be virtually identical to the e-tron GT prototype that was unveiled at the Los Angeles Motor Show last November.<\/p>\n

While VW is making its primary push into all-electric models, it will continue to add other forms of electric propulsion to its mix. The Bentley brand, for example, already offers a plug-in hybrid version of its big Bentayga SUV, while Porsche has a PHEV version of its Panamera four-door. Audi last week revealed four plug-in models at the Geneva Motor Show.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> to check out those new Audi plug-ins.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The shift to electrification comes as VW downplays its long-running bet on diesel \u2013 though Diess has said on several recent occasions that the automaker won\u2019t entirely abandon \u201coil burners\u201d from its line-up.<\/p>\n

Like its competitors, Volkswagen is facing increasingly stringent emissions and fuel economy regulations in key markets, China recently enacted the New Energy Vehicle mandate that is meant to promote zero-emission vehicle sales. Several European countries, such as Norway and France, are considering rules that would effectively ban the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines.<\/p>\n

During the shareholders meeting on Tuesday, VW officials said they plan to reduce by 30% the carbon footprint of a typical vehicle. I.D. models, meanwhile, are expected to become carbon neutral.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Germany\u2019s Volkswagen AG expects to sell 22 million battery-electric vehicles over the next decade, CEO Herbert Diess said Tuesday, increasing the automaker’s BEV target by 50%. TheDetroitBureau.com takes a closer look at how VW plans to get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119148,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"category_reviews":[15,16,18,19,21,30],"make":[35,38,97,113],"post-state":[],"category_old":[215,149,150,151,223,123,274,267,287,160,276,153,319,142,289,155,299,171,156,152,272,154,271,163,132,125,182,164,128,291,288,232],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/134522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reviews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134522"},{"taxonomy":"category_reviews","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_reviews?post=134522"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=134522"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=134522"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=134522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}