German car manufacturer, Volkswagen (WW) plans to stop production of combustion engines in Europe by 2035, said a board member to a German newspaper on Saturday.
The company will exit all business with internal combustion vehicles by 2033-2035. For China and the US it will after 2035, says the VW spokesperson. For South America and Africa, it will take even longer to transition from internal combustion engines as the political and infrastructure framework conditions are still missing. In the next 30 years, the complete VW fleet would be CO2 neutral, quoted the local newspapers.
EU policymakers have tightened policies that require automakers to develop low-emission technology vehicles or face penalties on exceeding CO2 emissions.
Volkswagen’s decision to move production towards electric vehicles would increase demand for metals like copper, zinc, and aluminum. Lithium batteries are the preferred choice for EV batteries which technically would slash market share for lead batteries used in internal combustion engines. Demand for nickel will increase, driven by increased consumption of lithium batteries.