Should the Volkswagen Group produce its own battery cells? The experts can’t quite agree. “We’ll soon be able to produce synthetic natural gas from sustainable sources. So CNG vehicles will be carbon neutral.” Dr. Ulrich Eichhorn, Head of Research and Development at the Volkswagen Group since 2016 In Norway, EV drivers are allowed to use bus lanes and they have free public parking in cities. China uses an even more powerful instrument – vehicle registration. If you buy a car with an internal combustion engine in Shanghai you can often wait years to get your license plates. But if you buy an EV, you get them straight away. There are good reasons why we don’t use such methods. Nevertheless, things have changed quite a bit in Germany, too. Take the environmental incentive and the charging infrastructure program, for example. In global terms, though, other countries are much further ahead. 8 What is Volkswagen doing with regard to infrastructure? EICHHORN Together with other manufacturers we have founded a pan-European high-power charging network called IONITY to build a network of fast charging stations along motorways and major routes in Europe. We are doing something similar in America with Electrify America. We believe fast charging is essential for making e-mobility attractive for long journeys, too. There will be high-power charging stations at all motorway gas stations and service stations in Germany by 2020. We will be providing many of them.
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