Working towards a more sustainable future with E-mobility

The million dollar question in the industry lately seems to be is an electric car truly more sustainable compared to a new car with a modern combustion engine. 

What we can tell you is that an electric car will not produce any climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions during operation if an electric car is charged with green electricity.

However, carbon footprint does not start when the driver presses the “start” button for the first time; instead it has already started in the manufacturing process. 

In the efforts to be more sustainable, the team from Volkswagen’s Technical Development has been using energy efficiency and green electricity to systematically reduce CO2 emissions in production. 

This will bring more appeal to the brand as Volkswagen has made it possible for customers to purchase models that have a neutral carbon footprint, such as the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4.

In order for the team to successfully work out the calculations, it is important that an accurate CO2 value is given to the production of each component. Other than that, the company has also taken the initiative to go through all the components of a vehicle step-by-step in order to reduce their climate impact during production. 

Professionals start off with the battery system, steel and aluminium as the production of those parts release higher levels of CO2. 

Among the employees under the Volkswagen Technical Development Department who are a part of leading this cause is Dr. Marko Gernuks, Dr. Georg Bäuml, Dr. Maximilian Schüler, Dr. Tobias Lösche-ter Horst, Dr. Lars Hofmann and Dr. Philipp Halubek. 

The team concluded that electric cars in Europe are considerably more sustainable and environment-friendly as compared to a combustion engine over its entire life cycle.