The reputation of Volkswagen has been compromised in the last few months. As an attempt to redeem itself, the automaker has announced its plan to produce electric vehicles by the year 2020 in North America. The newly appointed Volkswagen AG’s U.S. head of operations, Hinrich Woebcken officially confirmed that the automaker’s Chattanooga, Tennessee-based plant, as well as a Mexico-based facility may be utilized for production purposes. Although Woebcken didn’t give in-depth details, he confirmed that the car manufacturer plans to build multiple models.
From a political point of view, it would be wise to use the factory at Chattanooga considering the fact that Unites States regulators have been pushing for the manufacture of more electric cars. Woebcken said to the Wall Street Journal that they all believed that United States, particularly its urban mobility is likely to shift to electric and hybrid cars from petrol engines. A heavy investment has been made to enable the shift in question, and this is inclusive of the planned production in the North American region.
The intent of Volkswagen to produce electric cars is not really news. Prior to the scandal of Dieselgate, the automaker already had plans for introducing twenty plug-in hybrids and all-electric car by 2020. The automaker claimed that the planned vehicles would be dubbed “smartphones on wheels.” The announcement was then followed by CEO Matthias Muller’s notice last month that the company planned to launch at least thirty fully electric new cars by the year 2025. Currently, there are only three battery-electric vehicles offered by Volkswagen. These cars are Audi’s R8 e-tron, e-Golf and VW e-Up. Introducing thirty different models within a time span of ten years would seem a virtually impossible challenge for the automaker.
Efforts to minimize greenhouse gas emissions should begin with increasing the efficiency of transportation. Electric vehicles have overwhelming advantages over gasoline cars. Therefore the move by Volkswagen to increase electric car production will result in significant savings in terms of costs and environment. The use of all-electric power to drive short distances plays a significant role in reducing gasoline consumption. Electric vehicles don’t utilize gasoline whatsoever and they also release zero emissions when renewable sources of energy are used for recharging.
Whatever the actual figure is, producing electric cars on the mentioned Atlantic side of America will play a vital role in clearing the air for Volkswagen to progress. It would also be a great addition to the e-Golf, Volkswagen’s only electric car currently sold in the United States.