Photo: Volkswagen
Klaus Zellmer, Volkswagen’s board member for sales, went on the record on Saturday saying that the German carmaker will stop selling cars with Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) in Europe by 2035, shifting to an all-electric catalog — reports Autoblog.
“In Europe, we will exit the business with internal combustion vehicles between 2033 and 2035, in the United States and China somewhat later,” Zellmer told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper.
“In South America and Africa, it will take a good deal longer due to the fact that the political and infrastructure framework conditions are still missing,” he added.
According to Zellmer, Volkswagen is currently planning for electric cars to make up 70% of its total sales in Europe by 2030. The automaker also hopes to have six battery factories up and running in the region by the same time.
EU policymakers continue to bear down on carbon emissions, leaving manufacturers of gas guzzlers with hefty fines for exceeding emissions caps and creating an urgency to go all-electric within the industry.
With Volkswagen’s ID.3 and ID.4 proving themselves as top performers in the electric vehicle (EV) market since their respective launches, the carmaker is in prime position to accelerate its transition to an all-electric portfolio of offerings.
Ultimately, Volkswagen wants its entire fleet of offerings across the globe to be carbon-neutral by 2050 at the latest.
