VW planning less expensive electric model

FRANKFURT (AP) — Volkswagen intends to invest 44 billion euros ($50 billion) in the electric and autonomous car technologies expected to reshape the industry – and said it would make batterypowered vehicles more accessible to mass-market auto buyers by selling its new I.D. compact for about what a Golf diesel costs.

The investment plans for the next five years aim to make Volkswagen “a worldwide supplier of sustainable mobility,” chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said Friday. He added that the company is in talks with Ford about possible cooperation in making light commercial vehicles.

Established automakers as well as several U.S. startups are rolling out electric models to compete with Tesla, currently the market leader. Auto companies need electrics to meet new environmental standards in many countries.

In Europe, manufacturers need to sell more battery-powered cars to meet tougher EU limits on carbon dioxide emissions that come into force 2021 and aim to fight global warming. Automakers like Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW risk penalties of thousands of euros per vehicle if they can’t meet requirements for lower average emissions.

Authorities in China, where Volkswagen gets much of its profit, have also mandated a bigger share of electrics and hybrids.

Yet right now, such vehicles remain a niche market due to higher price and lack of places to charge. Battery-only vehicles were only 0.6 per cent of the market in the European Union last year. They are running from one to two per cent of U.S. new-vehicle sales so far this year.