Volkswagen handed over 394,000 EVs in 2023. Although EV deliveries were up 21% from last year, they still represented less than 9% of the VW brand’s total deliveries. The company said it expects the market to “remain challenging” this year.
The Volkswagen brand handed over 394K EVs in 2023
The Volkswagen brand announced fully electric vehicle sales grew by 21.1% in 2023, with around 394,000 EVs handed over.
Its largest markets included China, Germany, the US, the UK, Sweden, France, Norway, and Belgium. VW delivered around 30,000 ID.4 models in Germany, up 62.9%. In the US, around 38,000 ID.4 electric SUVs were handed over (+84.2% YOY).
In China, VW’s most important market (with ~40% of sales), over 75,000 ID.3 EVs were handed over, an over 200% increase.
Despite this, Volkswagen EVs represented only 8% of the total 4.87 million vehicles sold last year. The automaker cut EV production several times last year, citing slowing demand.
Volkswagen’s CFO Arno Antilitz said EV orders fell to 150,000 in Europe last October. That’s half of the 300,000 VW had last year at that time.
(Source: Volkswagen)
Hildegard Wortmann, who oversees VW’s marketing and sales, explained that the lower order intake was “due to the lower-than-expected overall market trend.” According to Wortmann, the growth in EV sales last year was thanks to a higher backlog.
VW faced several supply chain issues that extended delivery times and are now being worked out. The VW Group said it expected EV sales share to reach around 8% to 10% in 2023, down from 11%.
Volkswagen ID.4 Pro (Source: VW)
The automaker hopes its refreshed ID.4 and ID.5 can help jumpstart sales. VW’s updated EVs feature longer range and added tech.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen slashed EV prices in Europe earlier this week as it looks to compete with Tesla. Tesla’s Model Y looks to be the best-selling car (electric or gas) in 2023 as the EV leader continues expanding its network.
2023 VW ID.4 (Source: Volkswagen)
VW fell behind Tesla in US market share as EV adoption continues climbing. Tesla ended 2023 with 4.2% share of the US auto market.
Electrek’s Take
While Volkswagen looks to make up for lost time, other automakers are pulling ahead. Many automakers are already at double-digit (or 100%) EV sales.
Volkswagen EVs accounted for 8.3% of total deliveries in 2023. That’s up 1.4% from 2022 (6.9%). Meanwhile, other automakers, like Volvo, are already achieving over 15% EV share.
Volvo sold over 113,000 EVs last year, up 70% compared to 2022 (66,749). The Swedish automaker has several new models, including the EX30 (check out our review), starting at $35,000, that it expects to fuel EV sales in 2024.
Jim Rowan, Volvo’s CEO, said, “We are not seeing any order cancellations or any slowdown in order intake,” despite the reported “EV market slowdown.”
While Volvo aims to be an all-electric brand by 2030, VW targets 50% EV sales. Automakers like Volvo and Hyundai, who have committed to EVs, are reaping the rewards as others fall behind.
Volkswagen hopes new EVs like the ID.7 can help spark growth in 2024. However, Imelda Labbé, VW Board Member, said, “We expect the market environment to remain challenging in 2024.” The company believes it’s in the “right position” with an updated lineup.
Will VW spark EV growth in 2024? Or will it fall further behind leaders like Tesla as the industry shifts to electric? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Germany’s largest offshore wind farm under construction, EnBW’s He Dreiht, just hit a big milestone: The first enormous turbine is now up in the North Sea.
He Dreiht – which means “it spins” in Low German – is using Vestas’s massive 15 megawatt (MW) turbines, the first project in the world to install them. Just one spin of one of the rotors can generate enough electricity to power four households for an entire day.
When it’s finished, He Dreiht will have 64 mega turbines cranking out 960 megawatts (MW) of clean power – enough to supply around 1.1 million homes. And it’s being built without any government subsidies.
EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy companies, has been working in offshore wind for more than 15 years, but He Dreiht is their biggest project yet. “It will play a key role in helping us to significantly grow our renewable energy output from 6.6 GW to over 10 GW by 2030,” said Michael Class, who heads up EnBW’s generation portfolio development.
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The project is a win for Vestas, too. “With the installation of the first V236-15.0 MW, we have reached an important milestone for both the He Dreiht project and our offshore ramp-up, which helps Germany build a more secure, affordable, and sustainable energy system,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe.
He Dreiht is located about 85 kilometers (53 miles) northwest of Borkum and 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Helgoland. At peak times, more than 500 workers will be out at sea building the farm, using a fleet of more than 60 ships. EnBW’s offshore team in Hamburg is running the show.
The installation process is a major operation. The 64 foundations were already set in the seabed last year. Parts for the turbines are loaded onto the installation vessel Wind Orca in Esbjerg, Denmark, and shipped out in a 12-hour journey to the construction site. From there, the turbines are lifted into place. Meanwhile, crews are also working on internal wind farm cabling.
A partner consortium made up of Allianz Capital Partners, AIP, and Norges Bank Investment Management owns 49.9% of the shares in He Dreiht.
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Tesla has released a quick update about its Tesla Semi factory in Nevada. It says that it is on track for volume production of the electric semi truck in 2026.
The Tesla Semi was first scheduled to go into production in 2019, but it has faced numerous delays.
Now, it appears that there is finally some momentum to bring it to volume production.
For the last two years, Tesla has been working to build a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada, where it builds the battery packs and drive units for most of its electric vehicles built in North America.
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Today, Tesla released a “progress update on the factory, confirming that it finished building and it’s now working on deploying the production lines:
Tesla had previously mentioned aiming for volume production by 2025, but it is now only talking about starting production toward the end of the year and ramping up next year.
The automaker reiterated its planned production capacity of 50,000 units.
They now expect to take deliveries of their first trucks later in 2026 and said that the price has increased “dramatically,” leading them to scale back their pilot program from 42 to 18 Tesla Semi trucks.
When originally unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker mentioned prices of $150,000 for a 300-mile range truck and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Tesla also took orders for a “Founder’s Series Semi” at $200,000.
However, Tesla didn’t update the prices when launching the “production version” of the truck in late 2022. Price increases have been speculated, but the company has never confirmed them.
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Vietnamese solar panel maker Boviet Solar just opened the doors to its first US factory — a huge new PV module plant in Greenville, North Carolina.
The company dropped $294 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which will pump out Boviet’s Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial solar panels. They’re using advanced PERC and N-Type solar cell tech, which basically means these panels are built to deliver higher efficiency and better performance across residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects.
The Greenville factory’s first phase is now online with an annual PV module output capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW). For Phase 2, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026, Boviet will invest another $100 million to add 600,000 square feet and ramp up to another 2 GW. It will make high-efficiency solar cells.
Once both phases are complete, Boviet’s campus will cover more than 1 million square feet of manufacturing and R&D space. It’s one of the biggest clean energy manufacturing projects North Carolina has ever seen.
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The jobs impact is significant, too. The first phase will create 460 skilled local jobs. Phase 2 is expected to add another 908, bringing the total to over 1,300 direct jobs, plus nearly 2,000 more indirect jobs across the region. That’s good news for Pitt County’s economy, real estate market, and workforce training programs.
“This facility is not just creating jobs, but creating opportunity, innovation, and a stronger foundation for eastern North Carolina,” said Senator Kandie Smith. Governor Josh Stein added that Boviet Solar’s move shows how North Carolina is leading the way in clean energy growth.
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