Four major measures to support Volkswagen to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

Volkswagen is the first automaker committed to implementing the Paris Agreement. Our goal is to achieve our own carbon neutralization by 2050. " Volkswagen passenger car brand CEO Baird said at the Volkswagen WaytoZero theme forum on April 29th that the Volkswagen brand contributed 60% of the group's sales last year and naturally assumed the largest share of the group's carbon footprint. As a result, Volkswagen will continue to reduce its carbon emissions by 2050.

Recently, "carbon neutralization" and "carbon peak" are highly focused by various industries. "by 2050, the number of cars in China will continue to maintain a steady growth trend, and the carbon emissions of the automobile industry will continue to rise, which will pose a great challenge to road traffic carbon reduction." Hou Fushen, deputy secretary-general of the China Society of Automotive Engineering, said that the automobile industry will gradually achieve carbon neutralization along the strategic goal of carbon peak in 2028, near zero emissions in 2050 and carbon neutralization in 2060.

Earth Automotive understands that in the face of the overall goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization, many car companies have taken active action. Nissan plans to achieve carbon neutrality in the enterprise operation and product life cycle of the entire group by 2050, and to achieve 100% electrification of new models in the core market by the early 2030s. Tesla will help China achieve the goal of carbon peak in 2030 and carbon neutralization in 2060 by localizing production and improving the charging network. Mercedes-Benz plans to stop selling traditional internal combustion engine passenger cars by 2039, when all its passenger cars will be carbon-neutral. Changan Automobile will further promote the "Shangri-La" project to accelerate the development of low-carbon products, low-carbon manufacturing and low-carbon industries.

So, as a global auto giant, how on earth does Volkswagen achieve "carbon neutrality"? Can pure electric vehicles, which are endowed with a "powerful means" to achieve carbon neutralization, shoulder this historical mission?

According to reports, Volkswagen is unswervingly moving forward on the road of WaytoZero. Generally speaking, it is mainly composed of four major measures: 1, accelerating electrification; 2, carbon neutral supply chain and production; 3, green power throughout the vehicle life cycle; 4, battery recycling and secondary utilization.

Galaxy believes that Volkswagen's announcement of the brand's new WaytoZero goals not only contributes to the green development of the entire automobile market, but also brings greater driving force and opportunities for the innovation and development of the industry.

How to achieve carbon neutrality and mobile travel Volkswagen has made plans:

1. By 2030, Volkswagen is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions per vehicle in the European market by an average of about 17 tons, 40% lower than in 2018;

2. By 2025, 14 billion euros will be invested in the field of decarbonization;

3. Green electricity in the use stage of cars: Volkswagen is the first European carmaker to support the full expansion of wind and solar farms;

Sustainable production: by 2030, electricity from factories in Europe and South and North America will be switched to renewable energy.

Accelerate the electrification of the vehicle lineup

As the core of "Way to Zero", Volkswagen's new ACCELERATE! The strategy aims to accelerate its electrification offensive, and the goal is to achieve the full electrification of new models. By 2030, pure electric models will account for at least 70% of Volkswagen's European sales, far more than 1 million. This means that Volkswagen will perform significantly better than the requirements of the European Green Agreement.

In North America and China, electric models will account for at least 50 per cent of sales. At present, Volkswagen is implementing ACCELERATE! The strategy quickens the pace. By 2030, Volkswagen will deliver as many as 1 million electric vehicles in the European market. By then, nine out of every 14 Volkswagen cars will be pure electric models.

In addition, Volkswagen will launch at least one new electric model every year. In 2021, Volkswagen has made a vibrant start. After the ID.4, Volkswagen's electric performance model ID.4 GTX, in the European market made its debut on April 28th. ID.5 will be first launched in Europe at the end of this year. In 2022, ID.BUZZ will reproduce the classics in the form of electrification. Subsequently, Volkswagen will launch another small electric car for the entry-level segment in 2025.

Reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the supply chain and production processes

The largest source of carbon dioxide emissions is energy-intensive battery production. In this area, Volkswagen's main move is to insist on using green electricity. In addition to its focus on high-voltage batteries, Volkswagen also focuses on the production of cells, battery housings, rims and aluminum. In this way, by 2025, Volkswagen will be able to transfer every ID. The carbon emissions of family models are reduced by about 2 tons.

Volkswagen says 11 of the world's 16 factories have been fully powered by green power since 2020. In addition, from 2030, all factories in Europe, South America, Africa and the United States will fully use green electricity.

Volkswagen will compensate for the inevitable carbon dioxide emissions in the supply chain and production through rainforest conservation programs or other renewable energy projects. Volkswagen has compensated more than 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions since the first ID.3 was delivered in 2020.

Support the construction of wind and solar power plants

For an ID. The supply chain and production account for only half of the carbon footprint generated by models, while the other half comes from the use of vehicles. In other words, only when electric vehicles continue to use green electricity, can electric travel make an effective contribution to climate protection. Therefore, changing carbon emissions and energy switching are equally important for achieving carbon neutralization.

Currently, Volkswagen is providing customers with green power to meet the needs of home charging (Volkswagen Naturstrom ®) and on-the-way charging (such as IONITY charging stations). Now Volkswagen has taken another step forward, becoming the first carmaker to directly support a massive expansion of renewable energy.

Volkswagen said it would be the first carmaker to directly support a large-scale expansion of renewable energy. By 2025, Volkswagen will build new wind and solar farms in many parts of Europe.

In Germany, Volkswagen is supporting the construction of a solar power plant with a total annual installed capacity of 170 million kilowatt hours. The plant, which will be built in Tram-Gert in northeastern Germany by the end of 2021, is built without any state subsidies. This is the largest independent solar project in Germany, with about 420000 solar modules.

In terms of power battery recycling, the Volkswagen brand says that through systematic recycling of batteries, more than 90 per cent of raw materials can be reused in the future and contribute further to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The ultimate goal is to build a closed-loop management system for battery and raw material recycling within Volkswagen Group. It is reported that Volkswagen Group parts division's battery recycling pilot plant in Salzgit has been put into operation.

Write at the end:

In short, the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization sets a long-term sustainable goal for the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry. Although the wave of electrification has swept the world, carbon neutralization is still in its infancy.

Volkswagen says the, Way to Zero is more than just a strategic project, it reflects Volkswagen's plan to protect the climate and develops it into part of the company's corporate culture. "Volkswagen's massive electric offensive from production to use to recycling has only just begun," says Mr Baird.