VW prepares SUV, EV offensive in North America

VW prepares SUV, EV offensive in North America
N.A. production of electric vehicles to start in 2021

Sans diesel....
Funny....Mazda sees an opening in SUV'S...

Knee jerk reaction?

TDIMeister said:

VW prepares SUV, EV offensive in North America
N.A. production of electric vehicles to start in 2021

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I welcome expanded use of EVs; I really dislike SUVs. I think drivers are being sold a bill of goods about 4-wheel drive.

They are making the new SUV, produced in Tennessee, in diesel but it is only being offered in Russia.

EV's are offensive, I can agree with that . . .

gulfcoastguy said:

They are making the new SUV, produced in Tennessee, in diesel but it is only being offered in Russia.

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That Putin guy always gets the best toys

I think Tesla has scared the big boys that they will miss out. I've seen VW, Ford, Chevy, Mazda, Toyota MB, BMW say they are going full speed ahead with EV design and production.
Tesla has over 400k reservations for their model 3 EV that sells for $35k. Some Euro countries/cities have said no more polluting cars. I don't know where this stands but see it in the news from time to time.
I've driven every EV out there now and I can tell you that I will never buy another petroleum powered car again. Only EV.
The only car company that I have not seen announce EV cars is Honda. I don't go looking for this stuff so may have missed it.

Honda remains dead-set on hydrogen fuel cells ... as Toyota has been until recently. It seems that Toyota will be developing an EV. Hydrogen is dead in the water except possibly for some specialised applications. Toyota seems to have realised this ... Honda soon will.

One other thing; one of tonight's overtime chores is writing up a quotation for my services for three pieces of automation equipment that are to be installed at a plant in California.

I saw the CAD model for the vehicle in question ... I just can't say what it is. Or what it looked like.

It's all Photoshop and bluster just like every other company jumping on the EV newswagon.

forkliter said:

It's all Photoshop and bluster just like every other company jumping on the EV newswagon.

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There's also no benefit to the environment, with the impact caused by battery production, disposal and all the electricity generated by coal-fired power plants to charge said batteries.

N2UADTDI said:

...Some Euro countries/cities have said no more polluting cars. ...
I've driven every EV out there now and I can tell you that I will never buy another petroleum powered car again. Only EV...

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So, the elephant in the room is this: 1)You can't guarantee from whence the electricity comes when you plug in the batteries to the recharger, ergo 2) there is no such thing as a non-petroleum powered car, EXCEPT where you recharge the car from your own photo-voltaic array that is on the roof top or in your back yard. Or you might be covered if you have your own private wind-farm, or ocean wave generation facility.

Otherwise, all the EV proponents are really doing is shipping the pollution elsewhere. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say...

Cheers,

PH

In general, the EV push is what it is. VW pretty much has a gun to their corporate head since they effectively have no choice. We can argue as I just did above, that there is really no such thing as a non-petroleum powered car, but it is a specious argument since TPTB aren't listening (also another argument, but one that will never be resolved here).

VW would have had better economy of scale if they could use a technology that has wider application all over the world. But in the EV world, that will be held back by the lack of infrastructure everywhere but in heavily urbanized areas. The infrastructure project being advertised in the OP's article is VW's effort at trying to expand the necessary infrastructure that will entice sales of any EV offered in the future. It's pretty much required for the business model to have a chance.

Elsewhere in the world, we're back to diesel. It's probably the most commonly available fuel in undeveloped places, isn't it?

Cheers,

PH

Powder Hound said:

S2) there is no such thing as a non-petroleum powered car, EXCEPT where you recharge the car from your own photo-voltaic array that is on the roof top or in your back yard. Or you might be covered if you have your own private wind-farm, or ocean wave generation facility.

PH

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Do you mean fossil fuels? ~1% of electricity is generated from petroleum.

Also;

- Natural gas is very clean and recently overtook coal as the dominant source of electricity in the US.

- EVs represent controllable demand... allowing wind/solar to expand beyond what would be economically possible otherwise.

Powder Hound said:

Elsewhere in the world, we're back to diesel. It's probably the most commonly available fuel in undeveloped places, isn't it?

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Nope. Sunlight is BY FAR. With PV modules now $0.40/w it's more accessible than ever and getting cheaper everyday.



~$1k in panels delivering the equivalent of 1gal (~60 miles) per day of fuel on average for ~40 years.

Anyone care to guess when the 2017 eGolf will be for sale in the US?

If I'm lucky, Jan 23, 2089 . . .

It just doesn't matter. I have to deal with VW within 17,000 miles one way or the other. At a rate of 450 miles a week that gives me about 37 weeks to either A) have a fix approved and installed or B) take the buy out and be in a better car. Since no fix has been approved that leaves me with choosing option B no later than 20 weeks from now. Yesterday I stopped by a Chevrolet stealership and looked at the gas models of the Cruze in sedan and in hatchback. The diesel version of the sedan comes out this spring and the hatchback diesel comes out in the summer. If I give them a thousand dollar deposit and 6 weeks lead time they will build one for me in the desired color, interior, and options package and ship it to the dealer. When did VW ever offer to do that?