Volkswagen has presented its ‘Accelerate’ strategy to speed up its electric plans. The company also mentioned more concrete model plans although, in the case of the electric compact car, it has been sparing in detail.
Volkswagen’s target is to increase its share of fully electric cars, with sales in Europe rising to over 70 per cent by 2030, a doubling of the previous plan of 35 per cent. In the U.S. and China, the company is targeting an EV share of more than 50 per cent over the same period.
“Every year we bring at least one new electric car,” VW brand chief Ralf Brandstätter said at the strategy presentation. “We’re picking up speed and going into large volumes and covering all segments.”
The all-wheel-drive ID.4 GTX is to be launched in the first half of 2021. So far, the ID.4 is only available with a rear-mounted engine in three performance variants. The ID.5 SUV coupe, also built in Zwickau, is to follow in the second half of the year. Pre-series production is already underway. VW had already indicated that the ID.5 is primarily intended for Europe, while production in the USA or China is not yet planned.
According to Volkswagen, plans for an electric car a size below the VW ID.3 will be brought forward two years to launch in 2025. According to earlier reports, this vehicle (possibly called ID.2) will be developed by Volkswagen Anhui in China.
Future vehicle generations are also to be produced with considerably fewer variants. Production is also to be simplified by the large-scale use of ‘Functions on Demand.’ The individual configuration of the car will then no longer be defined via the hardware at the time of purchase but can be enabled or disabled later via software.
“The real game-changer is digitalization,” said Brandstätter. “Electrification, software-defined products, new business models and autonomous driving. These four big forces are driving the future development of vehicles.”
When it comes to new business models, VW is also thinking about bidirectional charging, where it plans to generate “billions in revenue with electric cars as electricity storage,” according to a report.
“We will change Volkswagen more than ever before in the coming years,” Brandstätter says. “We want to maintain the leading position, Volkswagen will become the most desirable brand for sustainable mobility.”
