Volvo actually planned to only sell fully electric cars by 2030. That plan has been adjusted because demand for EVs is slumping. And that is due to government policy, says Volvo’s head of sustainability.
Volvo is often the best boy in the class when it comes to safety, and the Swedes also want to be at the forefront when it comes to sustainability. In 2021, Volvo announced its intention to only sell fully electric cars by 2030. At the beginning of this month, that ambition was scaled back to just ‘electrified transport’, including hybrid cars.
Volvo head of sustainability Vanessa Butani now explains this choice The Verge. “We are pushing back (that ambition) a bit and not fully pinning ourselves on a year, because we see that although we are fully ready, the market is not yet,” Butani said. And indeed: worldwide demand for electric cars is declining. There are several reasons for this: inflation, the largest group of early adopters already has one, but the loss of subsidies certainly also plays a role.
‘Governments must do more’
“We want to go electric,” Butani said. “We know that’s the right thing to do, and we need collaboration across our industry and beyond our industry to make sure that happens.” And governments are not doing enough in that area, according to the head of sustainability.
“Governments are taking back rewards,” Butani says. “Infrastructure is not being rolled out fast enough.” This year is the last time subsidy will be given in the Netherlands for the purchase of electric cars. Electric drivers will also pay taxes in the Netherlands from next year: initially 25 percent of the rate that petrol cars pay, but more every year, up to 100 percent in 2030. This movement is not only happening in the Netherlands, but in almost all countries. In Germany, the subsidy scheme stopped earlier, and EV sales have collapsed.
We are indeed reluctant
Butani also has a point when it comes to infrastructure. Research continues to show that current fuel drivers find the charging options particularly difficult. People who do not have a driveway and therefore no room for their own charging station are particularly reluctant. In fact, of people who already have an EV, a quarter would not have purchased one without their own charging option. And although, according to our own calculations, driving electric is in most cases cheaper than driving on petrol, as an EV driver without your own charging station you are at the mercy of the rather erratically priced public charging stations.
Volvo’s new ambition is to sell “90 to 100 percent electrified models” by 2030. Volvo wants to achieve full CO2 neutral status for the company and its manufacturing by 2040. According to Butani, it is about “adjusting our ambitions”.
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Source: www.bright.nl
