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VW Responds to Diesel Scandal, Says “the Future is Electric”

posted by CoolHand on Friday October 16 2015, @01:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the oh-woe-is-das-auto dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

We're almost at the end of the first month of the Volkswagen scandal, which now includes 11 million cars and Leonardo DiCaprio. VW's US boss has testified to Congress, blaming a few rogue software engineers. All the while, questions have raged about VW Group's future: which projects are safe, which ones are on the chopping block, and how exactly will the company recover from this?
...
VW's board has finally started to answer some of those swirling questions. For starters, there's going to be much more emphasis on electrification. Electric vehicles and hybrids have played more of a bit part at VW, compared to Toyota, GM, and domestic rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz. That's going to change with a standard electric architecture that can be used across multiple vehicles and brands.

VW Group isn't devoid of hybrid and EV know-how. Audi's Le Mans program has taught it a lot about high voltage automotive systems, and Porsche has a wealth of experience from the 918 Spyder, Panamera Hybrid, and even the 919 Hybrid racer. VW would be smart to leverage all these programs.

VW is the largest car company in Europe. This is what sudden, disruptive technological change looks like.

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  • (Score: 1) by xorsyst on Friday October 16 2015, @10:20AM

    by xorsyst (1372) on Friday October 16 2015, @10:20AM (#250478)

    There are 2 problems I can see with EVs in Europe compared to US:

    1. Fewer families have 2 cars. If you only have 1 car, having an EV means hiring a car for longer trips or missing out on making those trips. The current range of the Leaf, for example, won't even manage a decent family day out without charging infrastructure at the location you're going to.

    2. Much housing stock without private drives for charging infrastructure at home. In England, for example, many older towns are full of victorian streets with on-road parking only.

  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday October 16 2015, @05:40PM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday October 16 2015, @05:40PM (#250682) Journal

    1) The Leaf is a joke wherever it is sold.
    2) News Flash: Man Complains about Free Taxpayer subsidized parking!

    These problems exist everywhere, in every big city. Battery Electric vehicles won't fit every situation. Maybe Fuel Cell electric [reuters.com] will work better. Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai are all coming out with fuel cell vehicles.

    --
    No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.