A few weeks ago, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess called 120 top-level executives to company HQ for a crisis meeting, at which he announced a series of measures to help his company catch up with Tesla. More recently, Diess went a step further, inviting Tesla CEO Elon Musk to address 200 Volkswagen executives via a… Read more »
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Louisiana to use VW settlement money to install 82 charging stations
Louisiana may be more famous for étouffée than electric vehicles, but money from Volkswagen’s dirty diesel settlement will finance several measures to clean up the air in the Pelican (or Petroleum) State. Louisiana received $19.8 million from the 2016 settlement. Around $12 million went to replace 351 diesel school buses (some with propane or CNG… Read more »
“A sad state of affairs”: VW Group CEO Herbert Diess calls out shortcomings of IONITY charging network
Taking a road trip in an EV is no longer a novelty, but it’s still an instructive (and hopefully, fun) thing to do, and the EV road trip story remains an online literary staple. It’s especially interesting when an exec at an automaker takes a trip in one of their company’s new EV models—and even… Read more »
VW expands Braunschweig battery plant
Volkswagen’s Braunschweig plant is expanding its production of EV battery systems. Following the first expansion stage, which established a maximum capacity of 250,000 battery systems, the second expansion stage has started up with the same capacity. Once the site is fully ramped up, it will be able to fit up to 500,000 batteries a year… Read more »
VW to enable bidirectional charging on all EVs on its MEB platform starting next year
Bidirectional charging is the technology of the hour. It enables vehicle-to-grid—or should we say, vehicle-to-anything (V2X)—applications, which promise to greatly facilitate the integration of EVs and renewable energy into the grid, to offer opportunities for fleets to offset their electrification costs, and to allow other handy capabilities, such as backup power. Now Volkswagen has given… Read more »
Tesla selling EV credits to VW in China
It now appears that Tesla has been selling EV regulatory credits on three continents, and ironically Volkswagen, the legacy automaker that seems to be the most serious about electrification, has emerged as the latest buyer. Tesla has made a tidy little side business out of selling EV credits to automakers that couldn’t (or chose not… Read more »
VW begins battery recycling pilot
Volkswagen has opened its first EV battery recycling facility to recover raw materials such as lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt in a closed loop, together with aluminum, copper and plastics, achieving a recycling rate of more than 90% over the long term. The unique feature of the plant in Salzgitter, Germany is that it only… Read more »
VW describes the “intelligent regenerative braking” on the ID.4
Some EVs employ regenerative braking to recover energy whenever the accelerator pedal is released, while others simply allow the vehicle to coast. For the new ID.4 electric compact SUV, Volkswagen decided that coasting will take priority because energy conversion inevitably leads to losses. This applies to the Drive position, which is activated by default upon… Read more »
Are German dealers sabotaging VW’s EV efforts?
The Volkswagen Group is by far the most charged of the legacy automakers—it’s making massive investments in electrification, converting entire factories to EV production, and rolling out fast charging networks across the US and Europe. Chairman Herbert Diess recently won an important vote of confidence from the company’s board, which agreed to back his ambitious… Read more »
VW board backs CEO Diess’s ambitious electrification plans
Within the executive suites at every legacy automaker, there are pro-EV and anti-EV factions, which continually strive for mastery, like Zoroastrianism’s Asha and Druj. Now Volkswagen Group Chairman Herbert Diess, a staunch EV advocate, has apparently won a major boardroom battle, clearing the way for him to proceed with his progressive plans for the German… Read more »