There is some competition among automakers as to what the technology of the future will be. While some are putting all their efforts into electric vehicles, others are developing other alternative technologies, such as hydrogen-powered vehicles. For the CEO responsible for passenger vehicles at volkswagen the idea of using the hydrogen for a vehicle is however not logical.
This was stated by Thomas Schäfer, CEO responsible for personal vehicles at Volkswagen, in an interview with Autobild.es as part of CES 2023 in Las Vegas. Asked by the media for his opinion on hydrogen vehicles, Mr. Schäfer said that “Hydrogen is expensive, and it is not competitive, especially not in personal vehicles in which the tanks take up too much space. Maybe in commercial vehicles, but not in passenger vehicles. I don’t see hydrogen coming in the current decade. Not at Volkswagen. »
It therefore seems clear that Volkswagen will continue to focus on fully electric vehicles, at least until 2030. This is also the strategy it has adopted for a few years, with the deployment of the MEB architecture. , which is found under the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4, as well as the future ID.7 and ID.Buzz. This architecture is also used for other models in the group, such as the Audi Q4 e-tron and the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback.
Meanwhile, other automakers have rather cast a wide net with the advent of new technologies. This is particularly the case with BMW, Hyundai and Toyota, which are continuing to develop hydrogen technology. Some even offer hydrogen vehicles on the Canadian market, like Toyota with the Mirai.
As for commercial vehicles, some companies, such as Cummins, are currently developing solutions that use hydrogen for buses and truck tractors. However, the deployment of these technologies for buyers of these types of vehicles has not yet begun.
Synthetic fuel
Although Volkswagen claims to focus on fully battery-electric vehicles, another brand in the group is exploring other possibilities to power current and future vehicles. This is the case of Porsche, which set up, at the end of 2022, its first synthetic fuel plant in Chile, which aims to produce 550 million liters of synthetic fuel annually.
