Earlier this month at the Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn mentioned to a group of reporters that, in his mind at least, electric cars were at least 15-20 years away. Now, Volkswagen of USA head Stefan Jacoby has been quoted as saying it will take even longer. Specifically, it could be as long as 35 years before EVs take a significant percentage of market share away from the tried-and-true internal combustion engine.
Why? To answer, Jacoby asks a question: “What would happen if 50 million new electric customers would plug their electric cars in an electric socket? There is no country on earth that is really properly prepared for electric cars.” Further, Jacoby suggests that emerging markets like China and India will take the longest to eschew fossil fuels.
There are a few power companies that would disagree with that assessment. Regardless, VeeDub’s U.S. head goes on to suggest that the diesel engine is more than ready to pick up the slack on the way to greener motoring, saying that VW’s diesels could get as much as 70 miles per gallon within a decade.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Filed under: Diesel, EV/Plug-in, Volkswagen, Green Daily
VW’s Jacoby says few countries ready for electric vehicles originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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VW’s Jacoby says few countries ready for electric vehicles – Green Cars
