Audi to stop making fossil fuel cars by 2033: CEO

German luxury carmaker Audi said Tuesday it will stop manufacturing diesel and petrol cars by 2033 as part of an industry-wide pivot towards more environmentally friendly electric cars.

"Audi is ready to make its decisive and powerful move into the electric age," CEO Markus Duesmann said in a statement.

Starting in 2026, Audi plans to only launch new all-electric car models, while "gradually phasing out" production of internal combustion engines until 2033.

However, strong demand in China could see Audi's local partners there continue to manufacture combustion engine cars beyond 2033, he added.

Carmakers everywhere are pouring huge sums into the shift towards battery-powered vehicles as they tout green credentials in a world growing more concerned about climate change.

In Europe, the transition has been sped up in part because of tougher EU pollution regulations and the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal uncovered at Audi parent Volkswagen in 2015.

Duesmann said Audi is this year already launching more new electric models than diesel or petrol models.

By 2025, the four-ring brand aims to have more than 20 e-models in its lineup.

Duesmann also said Audi would keep working to improve its internal combustion engines until the end to ensure greater efficiency.

"Audi's last internal combustion engine will be the best we've ever built," he said.

Audi parent company Volkswagen announced an e-offensive earlier this year, saying it would spend 46 billion euros ($54 billion) over the next five years to dominate the global electric car market.

The 12-brand group has vowed to set up six battery factories in Europe by the end of the decade as part of the push, hoping to reduce reliance on Asian suppliers of the key component in electric cars.

Electric car pioneer Tesla meanwhile is building a "gigafactory" near Berlin that aims to produce around 500,000 vehicles a year initially.

Audi's announcement comes as carmakers around the globe are vowing to go all-electric over the coming years.

BAIC, one of China's largest state-owned automakers, has said it will phase out sales of petrol vehicles by 2025, as has Britain's Jaguar.

Sweden's Volvo plans to sell only electric models from 2030, followed by US giant General Motors from 2035.

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler plans to phase out internal combustion engines by 2039, with German rival Volkswagen targeting the year 2040.

Carmaker pledges to halt combustion engines
Paris (AFP) June 22, 2021 - Several automobile manufacturers have made pledges in recent months to halt or drastically reduce producing cars with internal combustion engines between 2030 and 2035.

The latest was Audi, a subsidiary of Germany's Volkswagen, which pledged Tuesday to launch only fully electric vehicles from 2026 and halt manufacturing cars with internal combustion engines by 2033.

- BMW -

The German carmaker has increased its electric vehicle sales targets as stricter EU emission limits are pushing all manufacturers to make the shift.

Over the coming decade, BMW now wants to sell 10 million fully-electric vehicles, up from its previous target of 4 million.

The upscale carmaker was an early mover towards electric vehicles with its i3, but was then overtaken, in particular by Tesla.

In addition to proposing a fully electric version of each model, BMW also announced in March that its brand Mini would shift completely to electric vehicles within a decade.

BMW plans to invest 400 million euros ($475 million) for a manufacturing line for electric vehicles in place of those with conventional engines at its historic Munich factory.

- Volkswagen -

The German car group plans to have electric vehicles account for 60 percent of sales in Europe by 2030, and 50 percent of the global total.

It has yet to announce a date for retiring internal combustion engines.

It aims to sell 1 million electric vehicles in 2021 and plans to invest 46 billion euros over five years in its conversion effort.

Volkswagen's luxury carmaker Porsche has not announced an end date for petrol and diesel engines, but is targeting carbon neutrality by 2030.

It is investing 100 million euros to form a joint venture to build batteries with the German firm Customcells.

Lamborghini, which also belongs to the Volkswagen group, announced last month its roadmap to switching towards electric for its luxury sport cars.

It hopes to have electric options for all of its model by the end of 2024.

- Volvo -

The subsidiary of the Chinese group Geely plans to retire internal combustion engines and hybrids from its lineup by 2030.

It aims for half of its cars to be electric by 2025.

- GM -

The US automaker has said it plans to stop building polluting vehicles by 2035, even if it hasn't explicitly stated to offer only electric vehicles.

- Stellantis -

The group which contains the Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brands has said it will no longer invest in the development of new internal combustion engines.

It aims to for 70 percent of its sales to be electric and hybrid by 2030, up from 14 percent this year.

- Toyota -

The pioneer in hybrids aims for them to account for 70 percent of sales in 2025 and traditional internal combustion engines to account for just 10 percent.

Another 10 percent would be plug-in hybrids and the remaining 10 percent fully-electric or hydrogen powered.

- Daimler -

The Mercedes-Benz maker said in April it plans to accelerate its shift towards electric vehicles, doubling the sale of fully-electric and hybrids this year.

By 2025, it aims for 25 percent of sales to be electric, and 50 percent by 2030.

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Europe powers up electric car battery drive
Paris (AFP) June 20, 2021
As electric car sales soar, Europe has started to build up its capacity to produce batteries on the continent but it remains far from reducing its dependence on Asia. China, Japan and South Korea produce most of the world's electric car batteries. Europe now has projects to build 38 gigafactories with a combined annual output of 1,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) and an estimated cost of 40 billion euros ($48 billion), according to a June report by Transport & Environment, a non-government organisation. ... read more