Volkswagen Lays Down Goal Of One Million EV And Plug-In Models By 2025

The Volkswagen Group is making a bold proclamation by announcing that it expects to have one million electric and plug-in hybrid models in the market by 2025. The number sounds ambitious on the surface, but with the expectation of carbon dioxide emission limits becoming stricter in major markets, one million EVs and plug-in hybrids in nine years is the target VW is setting for itself in order to meet the demands for these cars.

The challenge is real for Volkswagen and the company knows that it’s been brought about by circumstances outside of its control. To its credit, steps are already being made to get to that lofty number, including increasing the number of models it plans to release in the coming years. Right now, the VW group has a total of three EVs and six plug-in hybrids in the market.

Volkswagen accounts for four of those models – e-Up, e-Golf, Golf GTE, and Passat GTE – with Audi having three – R8 e-tron, A3 Sportback e-tron, and Q7 e-tron quattro – and Porsche having the other two – Panamera S E-Hybrid and Cayenne S E-Hybrid. More models are expected to join in the coming years, including two models – Porsche’s Mission E electric car and Audi’s e-tron quattro – that the automaker is developing to compete against Tesla. All told, Volkswagen wants to have at least 20 new electric and plug-in hybrid models in the market by 2020.

VW has also begun preparations to build a modular architecture, called MEB, for battery electric cars. This standard platform should make it easier for the company to design all sorts of vehicle types compared to what it currently uses on models like the e-Golf. Development of the MEB platform is expected to start this October.

Volkswagen brand production chief Thomas Ulbrich is confident that the goal of one million vehicles can be attained, saying that the automaker is capable of building at least 75,000 electric and plug-in hybrid models a year once the demand rises for these models when more markets begin putting a premium on having EVs and plug-in hybrids in the fold. It’s too early to tell if one million EVs and plug-in hybrids by 2025 is an attainable goal. But if anybody can pull it off, Volkswagen’s as good a choice as any automaker to get it done.