Volkswagen To Spend Some Serious Cheddar On EVs And Self-Drivers

TopSpeed

By Jonathan Lopez

Published Nov 22, 2017

Huge investment helps the German brand move into the future

Volkswagen is pushing hard to establish itself as a major player in several forward-looking technologies, namely electric vehicles, hybrids, and self-driving vehicles. It was recently announced that Volkswagen’s supervisory board approved $40 billion to develop EV, hybrid, and autonomous tech through 2022.

As you may have noticed, Volkswagen has been busy reshaping its image with a bevy of electric, hybrid, and autonomous concepts. Now, it looks like its time to put the rubber to the road, so to speak.

The goal is to offer an all-electric and hybrid option for every model in VW lineup by 2030, and that includes every brand under the VW umbrella, from Audi to Skoda. Even high-performance brands like Lamborghini and Porsche will be feeling the electrons – take for example the Porsche Mission E.

Indeed, it appears as though VW has tons of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles already in the pipeline. Many will fly under the German make’s I.D. banner, including production iterations of the I.D. Buzz bus concept and the I.D. Crozz crossover concept, which are just two of five new electrified vehicles scheduled to drop by 2020. Each will utilize VW’s new MEB platform, underpinnings that were specifically tailored to the needs of electric vehicles.

VW will reportedly need upwards of 50 billion euros just to supply all these new EV’s with batteries. The brand is currently shopping around for a supplier.

Then we have concepts like the Sedric, which promises hassle-free transportation that’s as comfortable as sitting at home in your living room. Odds are the autonomous stuff is still a ways off, while we’re just a few years from seeing a deluge of road-going EVs and hybrids.

All told, it looks like VW might finally get some distance between it and that nasty dieselgate thing. The question is – how quickly will public perception change as a result?