ELECTRIC VEHICLES OPINION Volkswagen: “Strong Customer Reluctance” in the Electric Vehicle Sector
Essay by Eric Worrall
Volkswagen: “Strong Customer Reluctance” in the Electric Vehicle Sector
Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t CampsieFellow, Geoff Buys Cars; Volkswagen is scaling back electric vehicle production, laying off contractors, but internal combustion vehicle production remains unchanged.
Volkswagen scales back EV production
ByAutomotive Daily
June 28, 2023…
Among the models affected are the ID 4 SUV and early production of the ID 7 saloon. Details of the shortening of shifts were provided by Manfred Wulff, head of the works council for the Emden plant, in response to an inquiry from the German Press Agency and an earlier article published by the North West newspaper.
While the production of combustion-engine models, including the Volkswagen Passat, continues unchanged, the factory holidays for electric vehicle line workers have been extended by one week.
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Wulff indicates demand for electric vehicles is up to 30% below originally planned production figures.
“We are experiencing strong customer reluctance in the electric vehicle sector,” he told the North West newspaper.
Wulff said production of the ID 7 saloon had originally been planned to start in July but has now been delayed to “later this year”.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Volkswagen Emden plant said: “We are confident that the plant’s utilisation will increase again with the launch of the ID 7 at the end of the year.
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Read more: https://www.autodaily.com.au/volkswagen-scales-back-ev-production/
An interesting video opinion piece on the issues with EVs;
Volkswagen says they expect EV production to pick up – presumably in anticipation of another round of European Union anti-consumer choice laws, to try to force more sales of EVs.
EVs are and for the foreseeable future will remain a rich persons’ toy.
I recently completed a driving holiday to the snow, via Western New South Wales. The roads were so bad even my 4WD couldn’t take them at full speed, especially Golden Highway and Newell Highway. In addition, there aren’t a lot of places to refuel between Goondiwindi and Dubbo – my long range 4WD was starting to look thirsty by the end of that leg of my holiday.
Even around Canberra, our nation’s capital, the roads were a disgrace in some places.
One leg of the driving holiday lasted 8 hours, across rough roads and mountainous terrain. Another drive I spent most of the day driving into a fierce headwind.
Despite all the hype, the fact remains that for any kind of serious driving on a reasonable timescale, you will need an internal combustion engine vehicle for the foreseeable future.
Some of the roads I drove on my holiday (video is from a few months ago);