The interest for electric cars is palpable, and Volkswagen is planning to sell a lot of them. 50 million over the next few years in fact.
While that might seem like a whole heck of a lot of them, the fact that there’s a current semi-shortage of available cars and long waiting lines demonstrates that the issue is not the demand.
The issue lies in the supply and building the things – ask Tesla about it. The latter may have figured out the battery question as the energy storage units are some of the biggest bugs related to the production of EVs.
Volkswagen’s worked out sources for the desired batteries from three Asian companies: CATL in China and LG and Samsung in South Korea. Despite this, Volkswagen understands that EVs are not the solution for all because of range, availability and, most importantly, pricing. This is why they will continue to invest in the internal combustion engine and diesel technology.
In the meantime, EV’s are becoming an important piece of the automotive landscape and the German giant intends on being there. The first of their I.D. series of electric vehicles are slated to arrive as early as late 2019 or early 2020 and thanks the company’s shared flexible MEB platform, economies of scale will be more than possible.
This strategy will enable Volkswagen to pass on the “savings” to consumers and retails their cars for much less than Tesla’s advertised prices, for example. We look forward to finding out more the I.D. line-up, and driving them!
