Herbert Diess made a few interesting comments in his latest interview:
VW is moving toward battery-powered electromobility more resolutely than other long-established automakers. Why?
You have to do it consistently if you want traffic to become CO2-free. If you don’t develop combustion and electric vehicles on the same platform, the electric cars will be really good. That’s why we decided to develop an independent e-platform.
Automotive News
This is a good insight, and one that other legacy auto players should listen to closely and try to understand if they want to survive.
How many times a month do you doubt that this radical approach may not the right one?
The last time I had doubts was 10 years ago. Since then, the goal and course have been clear. We want to become CO2-free and achieve our fleet emission reduction targets. The answer as to how to achieve this is clear.
Automotive News
I guess the Roadster convinced him.
How far do EVs need to be able to travel on a single charge to win over skeptics?
There has been a range contest among car manufacturers in the past few years. That will become less important. What matters will be that what is offered is environmentally friendly. Batteries that are too large and heavy are not good for the CO2 balance. Something in between is right.
You drove the VW ID3 battery-powered hatchback to Italy’s Lake Garda for your summer vacation. How was that?
We had a range of around 350 km (218 miles) and that suited us quite well.
Automotive News
Translation: Range on our first batch of electric vehicles is bad, but we’ll try and spin it as an “eco friendly” move to reduce battery capacity rather than improving core efficiency.
No Tesla vehicle has a 218 mile battery anymore. 300 is quickly becoming the baseline range for a modern electric vehicle. The longest range electric vehicles you can buy today are already well over 400 miles, with 500 mile+ successors coming very soon.
How important is the market value of VW to you? Tesla is much smaller and has ten times the market capitalization of VW Group. Do you understand how stock markets can create this situation?
I can understand it. Tesla is not valued as a conventional automotive company. Thanks to its high valuation, even ambitious expansion plans can be financed well via the market.
Automotive News
Another good observation by Diess.
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