Volkswagen Group announced plans to launch 70 new electric cars by the end of 2028, up from a previous plan of only 50, at its annual press conference held Tuesday in Wolfsburg, Germany.
The first of these 70 EVs is the 2019 Audi e-tron that's just gone on sale. Some of the others we know of include the Porsche Taycan and next-generation Macan, the Audi Q4 e-tron and e-tron Sportback, and the production versions of the Volkswagen ID Neo, Buzz, Crozz and Vizzion concepts.
While the EVs will span most of the VW Group's portfolio of brands, the namesake VW brand as well as Audi are expected to feature the lion's share. VW Group estimates that it will have built as many as 22 million EVs by the 2028 deadline.
Audi Q4 e-tron concept
The increase in EV numbers is part of VW Group's overarching strategy to reach a neutral balance for its company-wide CO2 emissions. We're talking all areas, from the fleet to production to administration. The automaker's target date for reaching this goal is 2050. Other strategies include switching to renewables and compensating for remaining emissions that cannot be avoided, for example through planting of trees.
VW Group already has numerous battery suppliers lined up for its future electric cars, including LG Chem, SKI, CATL and Samsung, and the company is investigating manufacturing its own cells. Also planned are solid-state batteries, which VW Group is developing with a company by the name of QuantumScape. The technology promises significantly more range and shorter charge times than current liquid-type batteries.
And to ensure its customers will have a place to charge their cars out on the road, VW Group is working alongside several other automakers as part of the Ionity project. Ionity aims to have 400 fast-charging stations along Europe's major roads and highways by 2020, and will also be expanding into other regions. Ionity's chargers will offer charging at up to 350 kilowatts, which can charge an applicable battery to 80 percent capacity in 15 minutes or less.
