When a ripple becomes a swell.
German carmaker Volkswagen have communicated that they plan to let the sun set on internal-combustion engines in the near future, once the wave of ‘alternative’ mobility catches on. They reckon that this will start in 2026, after the next-generation of internal-combustion engines (ICE) debut from the automotive conglomerate.
As climate change & emissions concerns have moved into the spotlight, the race is on for carmakers to clean up their act and get green. This is particularly true for Volkswagen, having become the byword for auto-giant indiscretion following the emergence of the Dieselgate scandal, which revealed that some 11-million vehicles worldwide were spitting out more noxious gasses than they were technically permitted to do. This is something that VW wants to move away from, by committing fully towards alternatively-powered vehicles.
“We have a clear responsibility here. We made mistakes [with Dieselgate]. [But] our colleagues are working on the last platform for vehicles that aren’t CO2-neutral. We’re gradually fading out combustion engines to the absolute minimum.” – Michael Jost, Head of Strategy, Volkswagen
While the namesake Volkswagen brand still has about a year before its first dedicated electric car, the I.D. Neo rolls off the line, the larger Volkswagen Group already has its first phase of electrification out the door. Moving first with high-margin, high-cost vehicles, the first wave of electric VW Group vehicles come in the form of the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron. Once those start to take flight, a more sizeable move towards zero-emissions mobility will begin to take shape across the Group’s 12 brands, with a plan to have some 300 electrified vehicles (EV or hybrid, as cars, vans, trucks, and bikes) by 2030.
Autonews Europe reports that Volkswagen’s management are “fully committed” to keeping in line with goals set forth by the Paris climate accord, which has spurred automakers to expedite their research & development of zero-emissions and carbon-neutral vehicles.
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