VW says it accelerates plan for 22 million electric vehicles in 10 yrs as part of decarbonization plan

Volkswagen announced today its intention to accelerate its electrification effort as part of its decarbonization plan by adding 20 more “electric models” to its planned lineup in order to produce 22 million electric vehicles in the next 10 years.

Those 22 million vehicles will now consist of 70 different models released across Volkswagen’s multiple brands.

Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG, said at the company’s annual meeting:

“Volkswagen is taking on responsibility with regard to the key trends of the future – particularly in connection with climate protection. The targets of the Paris Agreement are our yardstick. We will be systematically aligning production and other stages in the value chain to CO₂ neutrality in the coming years. That is how we will be making our contribution towards limiting global warming. Volkswagen is seeking to provide individual mobility for millions of people for years to come – individual mobility that is safer, cleaner and fully connected. In order to shoulder the investments needed for the electric offensive we must make further improvements in efficiency and performance in all areas.”

The German automaker also reiterated its three-part plan to decarbonize its operation by “first, effective and sustainable CO₂ reduction. Second, switch to renewable energy sources for power supply. Third, compensate for remaining emissions that cannot be avoided.”

Electrek’s Take

I know VW gets a lot of flak for always talking about its ambitious electric vehicle plans instead of delivering them, but they are coming people.

It’s easy to say that, but they are coming. It’s just that these big legacy automakers move slow.

What is important is that in the case of VW, we have seen them make a significant investment to convert gasoline and diesel vehicle production capacity to electric vehicle production capacity.

Now the vehicles are slowly starting to come this year.

In the new press release, they listed the current known lineup to make sure everyone remembers:

• Audi e-tron
• Porsche Taycan
• Volkswagen ID
• ID. CROZZ
• el-born
•  ŠKODA Vision E
• ID. BUZZ
• ID. VIZZION

These vehicles are all at various stages of production and development, but they have all been greenlighted for volume production.

That said, it won’t be an easy transition for Volkswagen. They have already run into a lot of troubles delivering the e-tron.

It will be interesting to see how they handle those next few years.