Volkswagen bets big on electric, but will consumers buy in?

The cars are the result of massive investments in battery technology and new factories driven by environmental regulation and concerns about global warming.Electric cars remain a niche product with less than 2% of the market due to higher prices and worries about a lack of places to charge. It adds up to a huge gamble for the companies.

Volkswagen is betting that the ID.3, with a roomy interior, brisk acceleration and battery range of up to 550 kilometres for the top model, will change things. The company argues that the base price of under 30,000 euros means the ID.3 is "an electric car for everyone." A key competitor, Tesla's Model 3, goes for about 44,000 euros in Europe.

Volkswagen will start selling it in Europe next year but has no plan to bring this specific electric model to the United States. That's because the launch of electric cars is so far mainly driven by regulation, not consumers. Above all, automakers are rushing to make electric cars to meet tighter rules on greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants, particularly in the European Union and China.

China, a major market for German carmakers, is also pushing for lower-emission vehicles. Regulatory pressure for electric uptake is less certain in the U.S., where the Trump administration has sought to relax standards set by the Obama administration. Finding a place to charge is another issue. Tesla has its own network of highway fast-charging stations. A consortium of automakers including Volkswagen aims to have 400 highway charging stations by 2020. But many more are required if electrics are to become mass market cars.

VW Electric Gate: Claims to be 100% electric but has mini diesel engines hidden in the car.

Volkswagen's reliability sucks... same could also be said about their honesty.

We are loyal Honda customers .... Honda will not have an all electric car until 2030 so we went to buy an all electric VW and they were all sold out.

Again....No.

No electric for me

No probably not and the government better not subsidize it

No

VW can't get their current vehicles right. Why expect these to work....

Depends on the price.

Yes they will.

Not in Canada. Most Canadians are barely making ends meet, buying a new vehicle is out of the question. Also still no charging stations in most areas.

In China they will It will depend on subsidies in N America.

Yes

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