Volkswagen promises a new electric vehicle per month from 2019
Announcing a new stage in its electrification program “Roadmap E”, the German group promises acceleration from 2019, when a new electric vehicle will be launched “almost every month” according to the boss of the group. However, the German group does not intend to abandon the diesel.
Launched last autumn, the “Roadmap E” aimed to manufacture up to three million electric vehicles per year and to market 80 new models in the various brands of the group. In 2018, three new electric vehicles will arrive in the group including the Audi e-tron, an electric SUV expected at the end of the year.
16 production sites by 2022
While currently producing its electric vehicles at three separate sites, the group will equip nine other plants over the next two years. By the end of 2022, 16 of the Group’s sites will be producing electric vehicles. In parallel, the German group says it has managed to “secure” its supplies of batteries. According to the group’s press release, contracts have been concluded with manufacturers in Europe in China. Agreements representing 20 billion euros of investments.
“In just a few years, we intend to offer the widest range of electric vehicles in the world, in all brands and regions,” said Matthias Müller, Group President, who promises the arrival of a new electric vehicle “virtually every month “starting in 2019.
Diesel is far from abandoned
Hunt the natural, it comes back at a gallop … If the arrival of the massive electric vehicle is presented as a priority for Volkswagen, at least in its communication, the German group does not intend to draw a line on conventional engines.
For the manufacturer behind Dieselgate, “modern” diesel engines are “part of the solution, not the problem”. “We are investing heavily in tomorrow’s mobility, without neglecting current technologies and vehicles that will continue to play an important role in the coming decades,” said Matthias Müller. In 2018, the group plans to invest nearly € 2 billion in its conventional vehicle portfolio and more than € 90 billion over the next five years.