VW Chairman Winterkorn Says 1M German EV Goal Acheivable

The European automakers lagged behind the Japanese for nearly a decade when it came to hybrids and EVs, but when they got serious about it, it came in a hurry. Volkswagen GroupVolkswagenGermany, 1938 > present98 models
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CEO Martin Winterkorn says that the German government’s goal to have 1 million EVs in the country by 2020 is achievable. He sees the biggest growth area in plug-in hybrid models that can be switched between running on internal combustion engines on highways and electric power in cities.

"We will make our contribution toward this goal," said Winterkorn.

He says that VW Group plans to have 40 models with some form of electrification in the coming years ranging from a plug-in hybrid Porsche Panamera to a pure EV GolfVolkswagen e-GolfGermany, 2014 > present.

Electrified cars in Germany are still a very small market. In 2012, there were 4,157 electrified cars registered in Germany, and that was twice as many as the previous year. This counts hybrids, EVs and plug-in hybrids.

VW Group is not the only German automaker working on hybrids. BMW is introducing its i3BMW i3Germany, 2014 > present in November and X5 hybridBMW Concept X5 eDrive Germany, 2014 > present soon. It has more electrified models on the way for Germany as well. BMW says that it predicts electrified vehicle sales in Germany to increase from less than one percent of the market to 5% or more.

Mercedes already has several hybrid models as well in its S-ClassMercedes-Benz S-Class 6Germany, 2014 > present39 versions
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and E-Class lineups and is promising more in the near future.