The Volkswagen Group is planning to strengthen its position in the electric vehicles segment with an expansive plan to manufacture fully battery-powered cars at 16 locations across the world by 2022.
However, India is not on the list of manufacturing bases. Responding to Financial Express, the company said that India will not be one of the 16 locations. The company did not give a reason as to why India was not on the list; however, the company had earlier indicated disinterest in bringing EVs to India owing to the lack of charging infrastructure.
The Indian government has also clarified that it does not plan to set up a policy to mandate EVs by 2030, perhaps in appreciation of the challenges in achieving this target. The government is in the process of preparing a roadmap to help the country transition to EVs in the future.
Currently, three of the company’s manufacturing plants across the world are equipped to produce electric vehicles. In two years, a further nine plants of the group across the globe will be manufacturing EVs.
Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller said at the the group’s annual media conference in Berlin, “Over the last few months, we have pulled out all the stops to implement ‘Roadmap E’ with the necessary speed and determination.” Roadmap E is the company’s electrification initiative through which it plans to have at least one electrified variant of all its models by 2030.
To ensure adequate battery capacity for the massive expansion of EVs, the company has struck deals with various battery manufacturers in Europe and China. The contracts already awarded to battery suppliers amount to €20 billion. The company said a decision on the supplier for North America will be taken shortly, reported Financial Express.
