Volkswagen estimates it must sell 600,000 more electric vehicles per year to meet the drastic new CO2 emissions goals released by the European Union on Monday.
To align with the targets, carmakers must reduce carbon dioxide emissions in new fleets by 15% by 2025, and 37.5% by 2030. At the same time, light commercial vehicles’ emissions must reduce 31% from 2021 levels by 2030.
Germany was hoping for a maximum reduction of 30%, Handelsblatt reports.
VW e-Golf (Image: Volkswagen.co.uk)
“The plan we have drawn up for transition is not enough to fulfill this transformation,” Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said this week regarding the emissions goals. Automakers have no choice but to get with the program or potentially face billion-euro fines.
Sources familiar with Volkswagen’s plans told Handelsblatt that the company had calculated it must sell 1.2million electric cars in Europe in 2030 to meet the previous emissions targets. To meet the new CO2 targets, however, that would need to increase to 1.8 million electric vehicles — or 45% of its total sales. Currently, VW and all of its related brands sell 4 million passenger vehicles annually in Europe.
Read more: Fortune