It is true that the greener the electricity mix, the greener electric mobility is. According to the eco-balance published by Volkswagen, an ID.3 powered exclusively with green electricity already has a better carbon balance than a comparable vehicle with a combustion engine – starting at around 56,000 kilometres. With the current European electricity mix, this happens at around the 125,000 kilometre mark. The Volkswagen brand has set itself the goal of – by 2030 – reducing the average carbon emissions of the European fleet by around 40 percent compared to 2018. The electricity needed to operate an ID. accounts for half its carbon footprint. To neutralise this, Volkswagen is launching a two-pronged approach to secure the necessary amounts of green electricity
Choose green power Sustainable driving begins at the power socket
Volkswagen has committed itself to the Paris climate agreement. Which is why the company delivers ID. Family vehicles to customers with a carbon-neutral balance. In order that electric vehicles remain carbon-neutral during their usage phase, they must be charged with green electricity. To ensure that this is in good supply, Volkswagen supports investments in the generation of additional green electricity.
Sustainable electric mobility begins at the socket
Charging opportunities at home and on the road
The approach: Volkswagen is assuming responsibility for making additional green electricity available. The onus is on drivers to charge their ID. vehicles with green electricity where possible. There are currently a variety of charging scenarios that already provide clean solutions: for example, the TÜV Nord (German technical inspection body) certified Volkswagen Naturstrom® from subsidiary Elli, which supplies green electricity for the home filling station. But many charging stations such as the high-power stations of the premium partner IONITY offer green electricity throughout Germany.
First green electricity project launches in 2022
There is as yet no blanket coverage where green electricity is concerned. Although Volkswagen assumes that 60 percent of electricity needed for charging is already supplied by renewable energies, it estimates that around 7 terawatt hours (TWh) of green electricity will be required by 2025 to power the ID. Family, among others. To secure additional capacities in wind and solar farms, Volkswagen is working together with the energy industry and financing projects for generating additional green electricity. The first project of this kind involves a photovoltaic power plant in Germany with a total annual capacity of 170 million kilowatt hours. The facility is being realised as Germany’s currently largest independent solar project in Tramm-Göthen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which does not receive any subsidies. Once the power plant is up and running at the end of 2021, a total of almost 420,000 modules will convert sunlight into electricity.