The general trend of the electrified transformation of the automobile industry is driving the established car companies with profound technology accumulation to give up the research and development of internal combustion engines, and the time nodes all point to around 2030.
On March 21, Volkswagen brand CEO Baird said the company had no plans to develop a new internal combustion engine and that the company was shifting its focus to battery-powered cars.
"in the near future, fuel vehicles are still needed to ensure the normal operation of the enterprise, but obviously this is no longer the trend in the future. All these revenues will be invested in the research and development of electric vehicles, and then they will try their best to regain their former advantages. " In Baird's view, traditional fuel cars will exist side by side with electric cars for some time, but they will eventually be completely eliminated.
"Internal combustion engines will still exist for at least the next 10-15 years, but in a more efficient and environmentally friendly form, such as an efficient hybrid system." Although it did not give a specific time point for "ending" the fuel engine, some Geely executives gave their own judgment to the Associated Press reporter.
Berrard also did not give a clear timetable, but according to previously announced plans, Volkswagen plans to launch its last internal combustion engine platform in 2026, whose life cycle will end in 2040.
Such an arrangement is made because of increasingly stringent emission standards. Take Europe, where Volkswagen Group is headquartered, as an example, the new Euro VII emission standard has become an external factor for Volkswagen Group to abandon internal combustion engines and all in electrification. It is understood that the European Commission will put forward legislative proposals on a new round of Euro 7 emission standards in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is expected to come into effect in 2025 at the earliest. Among them, Euro 7 emission standards require that the carbon monoxide emissions of tail gas be reduced from 500-1000mg/km to 100-300mg / km, while the emissions of nitrogen oxides must be reduced to 30mg/km.
In January, Volkswagen was fined 100 million euros for exceeding the EU's current carbon dioxide emissions target by about 0.5 grams per kilometer.
At the same time, the European Union also attaches equal importance to grace and prestige in the promotion of electric cars. According to market research firm EV Sales, sales of new energy vehicles in Europe reached 1.367 million in 2020, an increase of 142% over the same period last year, making it the world's largest market for new energy vehicles. This rapid development has benefited from the subsidies of many European countries.
In fact, neither Volkswagen nor Audi of the Volkswagen Group, nor Geely, the representative of its own brand, is the most radical traditional car company in sentencing fuel cars to death.
BMW announced at its annual earnings meeting on March 18 that MINI will launch its last fuel model in 2025, then focus entirely on pure electric models, and that all MINI models will be fully electric by the early 1930s.
"MINI is relatively small compared to the BMW brand, and relying on the technical strength of BMW, the electrified transformation can be more convenient and rapid." Some industry analysts believe that the huge lineup of fuel vehicles woven by traditional car companies forced them to consider cost factors, thus mostly considering the strategy of gradual transition to all-electric.
Mercedes-Benz has previously announced that it will stop production and sales of all its traditional fuel vehicles by 2022, and all models will only be available in hybrid or pure electric versions. At Daimler's annual earnings meeting in February, Daimler said Mercedes-Benz would invest more than 1 billion euros in expanding battery production this year and would also increase investment in battery purchases to ensure electrified production.
Among established European carmakers, Jaguar plans to become a pure electric brand by 2025, and Jaguar Land Rover now plans to cut traditional capacity by 25 per cent within five years. Although the Land Rover brand has not expressed its position on the transformation of electrification, it has also made great efforts to develop pure electric vehicles and plans to launch six pure electric models in the next five years.
Volvo has taken a more thorough approach than Jaguar Land Rover, planning to be fully electrified by 2025, with pure electric models accounting for up to 50%; and transforming into an all-electric brand by 2030, and all pure-electric models will be sold online only.
In addition, GM, Ford, Bentley and Japanese brands Nissan, Toyota, Honda, etc., also lock the electrification time in 2025-2030.
"We don't have to struggle with the technical route on the passenger car. The current technical route is actually very clear, the future is pure electric, there is basically no need to question it. " At the 2021 annual meeting of the China Development Forum on March 20, Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Tsinghua University, said, "the hybrid will be a transitional product. It may still be a very good mainstream passenger car product in the next 10 years."
