Volkswagen group recently made an action that declares they will be investing heavily in the electrical vehicle industry. The company stated that they will spend $66 billion from now to 2024 in research and development, with $33 billion will be spent towards an electric vehicle. The company states that they want to start building electrical cars that run with MEB electric- car platforms, a high-performance electrical car, and 6 million of these models will be sold. The remain money will be spent toward hybrid vehicles and new technology. The German automaker is also setting up a new division to work on self-driving car. (Szymkowski, 2019)
From my perspective, after seeing Tesla opening a mass- production factory in China. This will allow more opportunities to improve the climate and allowing consumers to choose between more options rather than having Tesla growing as a monopoly.
Reference: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/volkswagen-electric-cars-technology-investment/
I like how Volkswagen is starting to make electric cars. Its about time that someone other than Tesla will now be known for making electric cars. Volkswagen is focusing on producing the ID.3 model and having it become an electric car leader. For the most part I do think that this surge into making electric cars is good for the environment. There are obstacle, however, with the shift to electric cars. CNBC says that a major problem right now is infrastructure. There are not nearly enough public charging stations for the increase in production of the cars. I think that the governments should help out and add more charging stations.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/04/volkswagen-starts-factory-production-of-electric-car.html
This doesn’t really surprise me that Volkswagen is looking to invest in R&D for an electrical vehicle. Due to their “diesel dupe” as the BBC article I read called it, they know as a company they need to be extra sensitive to their impact on the environment and how they are perceived by customers when it comes to sustainability. For anyone that doesn’t know about the scandal Volkswagen was a part of in 2015, they were found to be cheating emissions testing because the diesel cars were able to tell when they were being tested. This led to diesel cars always passing the test as the car would improve its performance for a short time period. My mom ended up buying a diesel VW bug right before the scandal came to light. She ended up making a profit off of her car due to how much VW had to pay car owners back. This turned out to be a major mistake by VW and has cost them a lot of time and money when they could have been a sustainable company in a more ethical way. In my opinion Volkswagen is still fighting to regain the trust from their customers after this emissions scandal. Although Volkswagen may be moving into the electric car market because it’s the “future of cars”, I believe it’s mostly to save their reputation.
Source:https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772
As Electric Cars are becoming more and more popular with people wanting to save money, and leave less of a carbon footprint. It is a very smart business move for Volkswagen to start investing Billions in this industry. The electronic cars are highly advanced and as they develop further technology they will adapt to a self-driving vehicle. This would lead to more competition in the self driving car industry other than Tesla.
This was fascinating to read, as I didn’t know that Volkswagen was planning to go into the electric vehicle business this heavily. Despite how small the market is currently there’s always news coming out about it. This article brings up a lot of interesting factors that may be playing into this decision. It seems that besides the growth of the market, new regulations and fines will make this the best possible case. Either way this is a huge decision to make. There’s a lot of money being spent and companies like Tesla already have multiple models of electric vehicles out.
If electric vehicles make of 40% of sales in 2030 as this article suggests, other companies may announce similar plans soon. The most interesting twist for me is how Volkswagen got in trouble with emissions testing in the past. For a company that cheated the tests, it’s ironic how much they are spending to work on electric vehicles. now
https://www.businessinsider.com/vw-making-huge-bet-on-electric-vehicles-in-next-decade-2019-11
It is great that Volkswagen is investing in electrical vehicles. There are plenty of benefits from the decision by Volkswagen both environmentally and from a technological standpoint. This move by Volkswagen would have a positive impact on the climate and the electric vehicle market. With Volkswagen producing EVs, I would agree that Tesla would have less of a hold on the market and gives consumers more options if they wish to purchase an EV. Also, EVs are often much more digitally connected than conventional vehicles. There are also a multitude of benefits for the climate with this announcement. The US used nearly nine billion barrels of petroleum last year and being able to reduce this number would help the world as a whole. EVs can also reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change and smog, improving public health and reducing ecological damage.
Reference:
https://www.energy.gov/eere/electricvehicles/electric-vehicle-benefits
It is great that Volkswagen is investing in electrical vehicles. There are plenty of benefits from the decision by Volkswagen both environmentally and from a technological standpoint. This move by Volkswagen would have a positive impact on the climate and the electric vehicle market. With Volkswagen producing EVs, I would agree that Tesla would have less of a hold on the market and gives consumers more options if they wish to purchase an EV. Also, EVs are often much more digitally connected than conventional vehicles. There are also a multitude of benefits for the climate with this announcement. The US used nearly nine billion barrels of petroleum last year and being able to reduce this number would help the world as a whole. EVs can also reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change and smog, improving public health and reducing ecological damage.
As a hippie wanna be, when I saw that VW had a new Van in the works I was so excited. The concept of it being electric does cause some hesitation i have to admit. I agree with the other reply when they refer to the electric vehicles as “the car of the future” however; yes electric cars limit the amount of emissions that you as an individual feel and see, without renewable electricity sources the effectiveness as a totally green mode of transportation is not yet accurate.
In my experience (i read too many eco bloggers, like i said, wanna be hippie) the most Eco friendly thing to do with anything one owns is to use it. If someone has a car that runs on gas but that car still works, gets you from point A to point B safely, then it is doing more good to the environment being used, not in a landfill or junkyard. This principal goes for every energy saving/eco friendly option out there, contributing less waste and using everything to the end of its lifespan leaves less waste.
Current electrical cars tend to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and increase their production of renewable energy. Despite electric vehicles generating fewer emissions over their lifespan, regardless of the source of fuel, it indicates that EVs are indeed the car of the future. The fact that electric cars are less polluting and making more EVs would help to reduce overall carbon emissions is also acknowledged by car manufacturers.
When they currently stand, electric vehicles are far less polluting than their counterparts in the combustion engine. It is likely to become even more effective and affordable as the software becomes more popular. Scale economies can support the production of EV by providing better infrastructure, more effective manufacturing techniques, recycling options and increasing the need for new materials to be mined. Electric vehicles are not a panacea but combined with increased renewable energy production and decarbonization of the electricity grid, they provide a roadmap to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
forbes.com/sites/jamesellsmoor/2019/05/20/are-electric-vehicles-really-better-for-the-environment/#896792b76d24