Volkswagen Wants To Rule The Electric World As Well

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

When you think Volkswagen and alternative powertrains, only one kind of springs to mind, and it’s no very alternative. Diesel. They are pretty good at it in Wolfsburg. But these days it isn’t enough. Nowadays, we have E85, fuel cells, hybrids, more efficient petrol engines and many more. Volkswagen can’t afford to bet their future on Diesel. So where do they go from here? I hear California is quite nice…?

Mercury News reports that Volkswagen is expanding their Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto, California. They’re moving to a 157,000 square foot office (up from 40,000) and are expanding their workforce from 40 to 65, with a forecast to exceed 100. The justification for this expansion is that they’ll need more space for prototypes. Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen AG CEO, visited Palo Alto and declared that he wants Volkswagen to be the top electric carmaker by 2018 ( something else was supposed to happen in 2018, what was that again…?) and will start launching electric cars in 2013 (more about that later). “We want to conquer the market for electric cars,” Winterkorn said. Conquering the car market not enough? No, they also want to rule the electric world. Winterkorn then went on to call the laboratory in Palo Alto a “powerhouse for the car of tomorrow”. Someone’s got big plans!

Speaking of Herr Winterkorn’s plans: 2013 will mark the year VW will launch their assault on the alternative fuels scene. The Telegraph reports the Up! (or Lupo, as it’s now called) or the Golf will be launched as an all electric vehicle in the US by 2013. The Touareg will have a petrol-hybrid powertrain, followed by the Jetta. Martin Winterkorn wants low-carbon car to account for 3 percent of Volkswagen’s sale by (you guessed it) 2018. “Our goal is clear and ambitious,” said Herr Winterkorn at their Palo Alto facilities, “Volkswagen will be the automaker to mass produce the electric car for everyone.” More big words! With Honda announcing that they will throw their hat into the electric car arena, GM ramping up their Volt, Nissan touting their leaf, Ford readying their electric Focus and Toyota set to unleash their Tesla derived electric cars onto the market, Herr Winterkorn could be eating his words. But lest we forget, when Volkswagen announced that by 2018 they’ll be the biggest car maker in the world, many people wet themselves laughing. Now, they’re within spitting distance of GM and Toyota and, now, no-one is laughing.

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jul 21, 2010

    This time ve hope the Schlieffen will work. But with the not so favorable comments, is going to be a real uphill battle.

  • Tricky Dicky Tricky Dicky on Jul 22, 2010

    Yet VW have been saying for about a year now that their combined hybrid and EV sales will only amount to 3% of their sales by the magic year 2018. Can't help but think that their hearts aren't really in it...

  • Dave Holzman A design award for the Prius?!!! Yes, the Prius is a great looking car, but the visibility is terrible from what I've read, notably Consumer Reports. Bad visibility is a dangerous, and very annoying design flaw.
  • Wjtinfwb I've owned multiple Mustang's, none perfect, all an absolute riot. My '85 GT with a big Holley 4 barrel and factory tube header manifolds was a screaming deal in its day and loved to rev. I replaced it with an '88 5.0 Convertible and added a Supercharger. Speed for days, handling... present. Brakes, ummm. But I couldn't kill it and it embarrassed a lot of much more expensive machinery. A '13 Boss 302 in Gotta Have It Green was a subtle as a sledgehammer, open up the exhaust cut outs and every day was Days of Thunder. I miss them all. They've gotten too expensive and too plush, I think, wish they'd go back to a LX version, ditch all the digital crap, cloth interior and just the Handling package as an add on. Keep it under 40k and give todays kids an alternative to a Civic or WRX.
  • Jpolicke In a communist dictatorship, there isn't much export activity that the government isn't aware of. That being the case, if the PRC wanted to, they could cut the flow of fentanyl down to a trickle. Since that isn't happening, I therefore assume Xi Jinping doesn't want it cut. China needs to feel the consequences for knowingly poisoning other countries' citizens.
  • El scotto Oh, ye nattering nabobs of negativism! Think of countries like restaurants. Our neighbors to the north and south are almost as good and the service is fantastic. They're awfully close to being as good as the US. Oh the Europeans are interesting and quaint but you really only go there a few times a year. Gents, the US is simply the hottest restaurant in town. Have to stand in line to get in? Of course. Can you hand out bribes to get in quicker? Of course. Suppliers and employees? Only the best on a constant basis.Did I mention there is a dress code? We strictly enforce it. Don't like it? Suck it.
  • 1995 SC At least you can still get one. There isn't much for Ford folks to be happy about nowadays, but the existence of the Mustang and the fact that the lessons from back in the 90s when Ford tried to kill it and replace it with the then flavor of the day seem to have been learned (the only lessons they seem to remember) are a win not only for Ford folks but for car people in general. One day my Super Coupe will pop its headgaskets (I know it will...I read it on the Internet). I hope I will still be physically up to dropping the supercharged Terminator Cobra motor into it. in all seriousness, The Mustang is a.win for car guys.
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