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Challenging Tesla, Volkswagen Announces Electric SUV, Mass Production of Electric Vehicles (apnews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes the AP:
Volkswagen is planning to release a fully-electric SUV in China which could compete with Tesla's Model X. The German automaker said Sunday the ID. ROOMZZ will be unveiled at the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show and will be available in 2021. Volkswagen says the zero-emission vehicle can go approximately 450 kilometers (280 miles) before the battery has to be recharged.
Volkswagen also claims it will have "level 4 autonomous driving," Reuters reports, adding that this electric SUV "is the latest move in Volkswagen's aggressive growth strategy in China, where electric cars are given preferential treatment by authorities..." In fact, the company's chief executive says nearly half of VW's engineers are working on products for the China market, though the electric SUV will eventually be shipped to other markets. "We plan to produce more than 22 million electric cars in the next 10 years."
VW's head of e-mobility also tells Reuters that Volkswagen will convert eight of their factories to mass produce electric Volkswagens, and eight more factories to to mass-produce electric cars under a different brand.
Volkswagen also claims it will have "level 4 autonomous driving," Reuters reports, adding that this electric SUV "is the latest move in Volkswagen's aggressive growth strategy in China, where electric cars are given preferential treatment by authorities..." In fact, the company's chief executive says nearly half of VW's engineers are working on products for the China market, though the electric SUV will eventually be shipped to other markets. "We plan to produce more than 22 million electric cars in the next 10 years."
VW's head of e-mobility also tells Reuters that Volkswagen will convert eight of their factories to mass produce electric Volkswagens, and eight more factories to to mass-produce electric cars under a different brand.
Their diesel NOX scandal took years off people's lives. NOW they have the perfect combo of large population base, thriving market and regime in which VW are most comfortable to exploit. The VW solution doesn't make a dent in pollution, smog or improve China's air quality but they need a life line.
Glad its not our turn again.
Using fossil fuels directly for transport creates more CO2 than using electric vehicles, thus it's a win. Batteries are recycled now, and there is more incentive in a mass market. Fossil fueled cards cause localised pollution. Batteries in cars are a way to store energy overnight, so if solar is putting out plenty during the day and your car is at work, hello charging. So electric cars help. In terms of the replacement cost, Nissan, Renault and others charge a monthly fee which funds battery replacements, so the battery replacement cost issue is not a problem. Biofuels are not the way of the future as they don't scale. E.g. for the UK you'd need an additional UK to grow nothing but biofuels.