Volkswagen Group supports plan to e-Mobility

Carla Wentzel, Group Managing Director of Volkswagen Group Ireland addresses journalists

Volkswagen Group Ireland, which is responsible for more than 26 per cent of new passenger cars sales in Ireland through brands Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, has welcomed the Government's proposed direction of the Climate Action Plan to reduce C02 emissions, writes Trish Whelan.

Volkswagen Group is committed to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement which envisions a climate-neutral society by 2050. The VW Group is convinced that e-mobility is the best and most efficient path to a clean, climate neutral mobility.

Audi e-tron

Over the next five years, Volkswagen Group is investing around €30 billion in electric mobility. This includes the introduction of electric vehicles, C02 neutral production, up to providing its customers with a green energy contract to ensure 'actual' zero emissions during the usage phase of the vehicle. The Group is planning to launch almost 70 new electric models in the next ten years.

At this stage, year to date (May) 2019, 2,700 EVs and PHEVs have been registered in Ireland, a potential of up to 4,500 by the end of the year. With the arrival of the latest generation of electric vehicles, like the Audi e-tron and the future Volkswagen ID.3, SEAT el-born and Skoda Vision iV, Volkswagen Group Ireland believes that the electric mobility market has a strong potential going forward, with a forecast of 21 per cent of total new car registrations by 2021.

However, the growth needs to be supported by public charging infrastructure and incentives from the Government to replace older combustion engine cars, by new cleaner electric, plug-in hybrids and also latest-generation EU6 petrol and diesel engines as they will still be an important contribution to achieving the EU emissions targets of 95g/km by 2021 and beyond.

The Volkswagen Group intends to be at the forefront of the movement to electro-mobility.