EVs still priority for Volkswagen Group, despite e-fuels investment

Volkswagen Group president Oliver Blume has said it's “not up for discussion” that EVs “are the future”, with the firm’s involvement successful synthetic e-fuels being born of a tendency to supply a greener solution for ICE cars already connected the road.

Group marque Porsche is presently progressive successful a large aviator task to sustainability nutrient e-fuels astatine a works successful Chile, which would fundamentally let ICE cars to tally with nary tailpipe CO2 emissions.

The European Union is moving towards a prohibition connected caller non-zero-emissions cars by 2035, but e-fuels perchance suggest a aboriginal for ICE vehicles astatine that point.

Speaking during the Group’s yearly media conference, Blume noted that portion it was “a highly affectional debate”, helium believed that “the ramp-up of e-mobility and e-fuels are not juxtaposed successful immoderate way”. 

“When you look astatine the figures of Porsche, we person a wide committedness towards pushing e-mobility adjacent further," helium said. "It volition beryllium the mobility of the future. E-mobility successful the adjacent aboriginal volition beryllium superior to each the ICEs disposable connected the market, truthful that’s the extremity of that discussion.”

Blume said that the Group’s involvement successful e-fuels was alternatively driven by markets extracurricular of Europe. 

“If you look astatine clime extortion arsenic a full – and this isn't lone a substance for Europeans alone, it's a worldwide matter – you person to deliberation of what volition hap with the 1.3 cardinal ICEs which are presently disposable successful the market, and that fig volition proceed to grow. They volition inactive beryllium driven astir for decades.

“In vessels and planes, we haven't yet developed a solution, and present synthetic e-fuels connection a feasible alternate to trim CO2 emissions alternatively quickly. The vantage is that they tin beryllium mixed with accepted fuels, and each azygous percent constituent is of assistance successful this context. 

“This is wherefore it's adjacent much important to travel up with wide electrification strategies and fulfil the indispensable model conditions. We request to motorboat appealing products successful the market. We person to connection sustainable sources of vigor successful antithetic regions of the world, including those regions moving a spot slower, specified arsenic South America, Africa and India. Here everything volition instrumentality overmuch longer than it does successful Europe. And that is wherefore caller solutions request to beryllium found. 

“We person to bash some simultaneously but abstracted the 2 markets successful the discussion, due to the fact that we're not competing with each other. You know, you tin ramp up e-mobility successful immoderate regions and besides instrumentality attraction of those regions that lend to clime change. Some fuels are much inefficient than others, that's not a secret. But if you nutrient them successful those regions of the satellite wherever sustainable vigor is disposable without immoderate limits, past this statement can't beryllium utilized immoderate longer.”