Group chairman Matthias Muller pledges firm will 'lead the way into the future' with 80 new electrified models due by 2025.
12 Sep 2017 | 3990 Views | By Rachel Burgess, Autocar UK
The Volkswagen Group will launch 80 new electrified models between its brands by 2025 – and will offer an electrified version of every model the company sells by 2030.
Speaking at the Volkswagen Group event held the night before the Frankfurt motor show, group chairman Matthias Muller said the ‘Roadmap ...
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The Volkswagen Group will launch 80 new electrified models between its brands by 2025 – and will offer an electrified version of every model the company sells by 2030.
Speaking at the Volkswagen Group event held the night before the Frankfurt motor show, group chairman Matthias Muller said the ‘Roadmap E’ model blitz would include 50 all-electric cars and with 30 plug-in hybrids. He pledged they would be sold at price that meant “electric cars are no longer the toys for the few.”
The VW Group is still dealing with the fallout from the dieselgate scandal, and the various brands within it have already begun pushing towards electrified technology.
Muller said the electrification programme would ensure the company will “lead the way into the future,” adding that “in the automotive world, 2030 is basically the day after tomorrow.”
The VW Group includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat, Bentley and Bugatti.
Muller said the company was likely to use two electric platforms, and is investing 20 billion euros (£18bn) into e-mobility, in one of the biggest procurement projects in the company’s history.
It is also setting up a pilot factory to develop know-how in battery production. Muller said the Group was initially aiming for electric models with a range of around 370 miles, and was also conducting research into solid state battery technology with a potential range of 1000 miles which he hoped could be brought to production by 2030.
The VW Group brands will continue to develop electrified hybrid versions of conventional engines, rather than simply pursue all-electric technology Muller said: “The fact is we still need modern internal combustion engines as a bridge. Conventional drive systems are not opponents. By selling the latest generation today we are making the profits to pay for research into zero emissions power trains.”
He added: “For the time being we will be offering the whole spectrum from conventional to electric. The transformation of our industry is unstoppable and we will lead it by redefining mobility to be cleaner and better.”
Muller said the firm was also expanding its CNG gas programme, while Audi is working on fuel cell technology that has the potential to reach mass production by 2025.
Additional reporting by Jim Holder and James Attwood