Volkswagen Group now planning 22M EVs in ten years; 70 new electric models by 2028

The Volkswagen Group is now planning to launch almost 70 new electric models in the next ten years instead of the 50 previously planned. As a result, the projected number of vehicles to be built on the Group’s electric platforms in the next decade will increase from 15 million to 22 million.

Further, Volkswagen has signed off a comprehensive decarbonization program aimed at achieving a fully CO2-neutral balance in all areas from fleet to production to administration by 2050. Volkswagen is thus fully committed to the Paris climate targets.

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.

—Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG

The Volkswagen Group has set milestones in all areas to be achieved in the coming years on the road to complete decarbonization by 2050. The measures follow three principles:

1. Effective and sustainable CO2 reduction.
2. Switch to renewable energy sources for power supply.
3. Compensate for remaining emissions that cannot be avoided.

In order to improve the CO2 balance of vehicles throughout their lifecycle, for example, Volkswagen has already made a start on the supply chain. A detailed roadmap is currently being drawn up. There is particularly significant potential as regards steel and aluminum supplies.

The 2025 target is to reduce the CO2 footprint of the vehicle fleet by 30 percent across the lifecycle compared to 2015. Volkswagen is therefore electrifying the vehicle portfolio, with investment in this area alone amounting to more than €30 billion (US$33.8 billion) by 2023. The share of electric vehicles in the Group fleet is to rise to at least 40% by 2030.

The first of the new-generation electric vehicles go into production this year: the AUDI e-tron will be followed by the Porsche Taycan. Reservations for each of these models already total 20,000 units.

Electric vehicles will be brought into the mainstream with the ramp up of the Volkswagen ID. Other models in this first wave will be the ID. CROZZ, the SEAT el-Born, the ŠKODA Vision E, the ID. BUZZ , and the ID. VIZZION.

Volkswagen selected LG Chem, SKI, CATL and Samsung as strategic battery cell suppliers to support the electric offensive. In view of the constantly increasing demand, Volkswagen is also taking a close look at possible participation in battery cell manufacturing facilities in Europe. Looking further ahead, solid-state batteries also have great potential. Volkswagen’s goal is to enable an industrial level of production with this technology together with its partner QuantumScape. (Earlier post.)

At the same time, CO2 emissions at all plants are to be cut 50% by 2025 compared with 2010. The conversion of the power station in Wolfsburg from coal to gas will reduce CO2 emissions by 1.5 million tonnes annually from 2023 onwards. Audi’s production activities at the Brussels site are already completely CO2-neutral. The Zwickau plant will not only be the lead factory for the Modular Electric Drive Toolkit (MEB); the ID. built there will be delivered to customers with a CO2-neutral balance.

The MEB lies at the heart of Volkswagen’s electric offensive. The cost of e-mobility can be significantly lowered through partnerships to enable the widest possible spread of the MEB and the associated economies of scale. That makes individual mobility affordable and usable for the mainstream in the future as well. One example of such a partnership is the planned cooperation with Aachen-based e.GO Mobile AG recently announced at the Geneva International Motor Show. (Earlier post.)

To boost e-mobility further, Volkswagen will be installing 400 fast-charging stations along Europe's major roads and highways by 2020 in collaboration with industry partners in IONITY. 100 of these will be located in Germany. That means there will be a station every 120 kilometers. Elli (Electric Life), Volkswagen’s new subsidiary, will also offer wallboxes for charging at home, using green power—initially in Germany. In addition, there will be 3,500 charging points on employee car parks at all plants with further charging opportunities at dealerships.

How Does The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace Compare To The Tesla Model X?

HOW DOES THAT JAGUAR I-PACE STACK UP AGAINST TESLA’S MODEL X?

Automotive writer Dan Neil is a bright spot at the Wall Street Journal, once a thoughtful conservative news source and now a leading venue for anti-Tesla rants. Neil famously deleted his Twitter account after a positive review of the Tesla Model 3 triggered a torrent of trollery.

*This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX (which also makes aftermarket Tesla accessories). Authored by Charles Morris. The opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs.

Above: Tesla’s Model X and Jaguar’s I-Pace (Image: InsideEVs via Nicolas Joannès)

Neil recently tested the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, and shared his impressions of the new electric crossover, including the inevitable comparison to the Tesla Model X.

Neil found the new Jag to be “brill, as the Brits would say: smart and sensual, quick and quiet, athletic and aesthetic, a class act all the way.” He also noted a few problems: “The lagging touch screen in my test car made me want to drive it off one of [the] Monterey Peninsula’s scenic cliffs.”

Neil notes that Jaguar has stolen a march on the German luxury brands, which are “still bravely in their foxholes.” Audi’s e-tron impressed journalists (including this correspondent) at an expansive extravaganza in San Francisco, but the bubble of credibility was quickly punctured when we learned that the company does not plan to ship any inventory to its US dealers – the e-tron will be available by special order only, and Audi of America President Scott Keogh said the wait for delivery could be a year or more. Porsche won’t commit to a launch date for its Taycan electric four-door coupe, but it might possibly, conceivably start to arrive by (maybe) spring 2020. Mercedes has shown off its new EQC electric SUV, which it tentatively expects to arrive in the US in 2020 (perhaps). BMW takes top honors for tentativeness – it recently showcased a concept called the Vision iNext, which may perchance come to market around 2021.

Above: Jaguar faces off against Tesla (Image: InsideEVs via Nicolas Joannès)

So Jaguar is the first legacy automaker to field a competitor for Model X, and Neil believes this is a competitive advantage that will be definitive for the brand, “especially among the next generation of car buyers in Europe and particularly China, where the government is effectively regulating gas cars off the market.”

A lot of “armchair quarterbacks” believe that once the legacy automakers finally decide to get serious about electrification, their superior resources will allow them to overtake Tesla quickly. More informed observers point out that differing missions (Tesla exists to sell EVs; Big Auto still hopes they’ll go away) make that scenario unlikely. Neil’s comparison of the Jag and the Tesla offers another reason not to count the Californians out. “It’s becoming obvious that Tesla’s advantage in powertrain tech won’t be so easily commodified or wished away,” he writes, then goes on to list some of the Tesla’s technical advantages over its challenger.

“The new I-Pace [with an EPA-estimated range of 234 miles, almost] matches the Tesla Model X 75D in range but it requires a 20% larger battery to do so,” writes Neil. “The Model X is also 14 inches longer and 400 pounds heavier, so a whole class above in size. And then there is charging. At a Level 2 home charger, a dead-empty I-Pace would take 12.9 hours to fully charge, according to Jaguar. For the same car at a public DC fast-charger (50 kW), 30 minutes would yield about 60 miles of extra range. That’s assuming, in the moment of need, you can find convenient DC fast charging. Chances are you’ll drive past one or more of Tesla’s hundreds of proprietary Supercharger stations along the way.”

Above: Model X and I-Pace on the road (Image: InsideEVs via Nicolas Joannès)

The I-Pace’s designers opted for a traditional user interface. In contrast to “the bone-chilling minimalism of a Tesla Model 3…the I-Pace UX looks like Mission Control with leather upholstery. There are a good number of physical rotary controllers, switches and ergonomic landmarks at hand, so you don’t always have to go ferreting around its torpid touch screen.”

Neil found plenty to like about the electric Jag: “All-wheel drive comes by way of AC synchronous motors fore and aft with integrated single-speed transmissions, delivering a combined 394 hp and 512 lb-ft of ready torque, enough to toss the little British space pod to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds and top out at 124 mph. At low speeds and low demand the rear motor does all the work in near silence of oiled electrons. The tire roar is by far the loudest thing. But when you boot the I-Pace to full power, it sings to you, a spiraling aria analogous to an internal combustion car’s rising revs, coming out of the cabin loudspeakers. You can turn it off if you like, killjoy.”

Above: Germany’s NextMove compares the two SUVs in a head-to-head battle (Youtube: nextmove)

Meanwhile, another comparison recently surfaced between the Model X and I-Pace. As reported in Teslarati, Germany’s NextMove analyzed the efficiency of the two all-electric SUVs and found, “At speeds between 93 km/h (58 mph) and 110 km/h (68 mph), for example, the I-PACE showed an average consumption of 22.5 kWh/100 km (362 Wh/mi). The Model X, on the other hand, had a consumption of 17.5 kWh/100 km (282 Wh/mi). That makes the larger, heavier Model X around 23% more efficient than the Jaguar I-PACE.”

NextMove also evaluated charging, and found that the Tesla outshone the Jaguar in this category as well. The German publication charged the I-PACE at an IONITY station at a Porsche dealership. IONITY’s charging stations are capable of providing up to 350 kW of output, but the I-PACE was limited to only 80-83 kW. However, Tesla’s Supercharger was able to recharge the Model X 90D at a level of over 100 kW.