Volkswagen’s CO2 pool has a number of new members. At the end of 2020, Aiways, the London EV Company (LEVC) and the German start-up Next.e.Go joined the pool. For the time being, it seems that Volkswagen has narrowly missed the CO2 standard for 2020.
From documents that research agency Schmidt Automotive Research has analyzed, it appears that Volkswagen is trying to considerably strengthen its CO2 pool. Previously, Volkswagen already teamed up with SAIC Motor, MG’s parent company, to build a CO2 buffer. The Wolfsburg group is now allowed to link two other Chinese brands to the group. Aiways is trying to gain a foothold in Europe with the electric U5 and LEVC, owned by Geely, is building London taxis with a range extender. Next.e.Go is still in the start-up phase, but wants to use Volkswagen’s MEB platform for the development of a small EV.
Since all these brands have little or no average CO2 emissions, Volkswagen can reduce its average emissions. According to Schmidt Automotive Research, Volkswagen forecasts show that the CO2 standard for 2020 has been exceeded by ‘less than 1 gram per kilometer’. Apparently, the tripling of EV sales was not enough. From this year, however, the group expects to be able to meet the CO2 standard. As the British now have a separate CO2 target due to Brexit, the addition of LEVC, which builds its taxis in the United Kingdom, could help Volkswagen achieve that separate target.