2024 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:13
On the eve of the IAA, VW presented its ID.3 electric car and its new brand logo. Meanwhile, criticism comes from environmentalists who demand greater efforts to protect the climate.
With its new mid-range electric car ID.3, Volkswagen wants to mark the dawn of mass-produced electric mobility. But climate protectors are demanding much more effort from the car companies than just fresh models at the start of the IAA.
spoods.de
Never before have such massive protests been announced at the trade fair that begins on Thursday (September 12) in Frankfurt. Not only since the devastating accident in Berlin with four pedestrians killed, the SUVs have been at the center of criticism. Whether you have classic combustion engines or highly potent electric drives under the hood hardly matters anymore.
Official opening on Thursday
The IAA starts its preliminary program on Tuesday. Before the official opening on Thursday with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), manufacturers and suppliers are looking to talk to the media. The program includes appointments with the manufacturers VW, Daimler, BMW, Ford and Opel. The major suppliers Continental, Bosch, ZF and Schaeffler are also represented with their own events.
On Monday, despite the presentation of the new VW ID.3 electric car, there was massive resistance to the model policy of the industry, which currently wants to sell mainly SUVs.
Critics had declared that they were unsuitable because of their weight, as well as their energy and space requirements. Large demonstrations and protests are planned on Saturday and Sunday (September 14th and 15th) on the first two public days of the IAA.
The group also showed its revised emblem in Frankfurt. It should appear lighter and simpler than the previous version and symbolize the new brand strategy. However, critics see the car companies as being under pressure to move towards more climate- and environmentally friendly mobility: They are demanding speed limits, smaller and more purely electric cars and a fundamentally different transport policy. The production of heavy SUVs must also end. A large anti-IAA demonstration is planned for Saturday (September 14th).
Criticism from Greenpeace
Greenpeace complains that the auto industry is doing too little to change towards pure, lighter and smaller electric vehicles. According to an analysis by the environmental protection organization, the long-term CO2 pollution caused by the twelve largest car manufacturers in 2018 was higher than the current greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. The corresponding “footprint” - it estimates the emissions of the cars over their entire life cycle - was around 4.3 billion tons of CO2 for the cars sold last year. This amount exceeds that of the absolute emissions of all EU countries (4.1 billion t).
The VW group was therefore responsible for the largest single amount (582 million tons of CO2), ahead of Renault-Nissan (577 million tons) and Toyota (562 million tons). Daimler (161 million t) and BMW (136 million t) came in eleventh and twelfth - together with the VW brands, their value exceeded Germany's current emissions (866 million t). However, these values are only partially comparable with the annual emissions: the “footprint” includes the entire CO2 balance from production to use and recycling of a car.
Greenpeace appealed to companies to be more determined to say goodbye to gasoline, diesel and hybrid drives. Their sale must stop by 2028 at the latest. "Attempts to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine and to promote hybrids are nothing but emergency solutions", criticized traffic expert Benjamin Stephan.
Significant CO2 reduction at VW
VW emphasized that they now have clear targets: “By 2025, the CO2 footprint of the vehicle fleet is to be reduced by 30 percent compared to 2015. And that over the entire life cycle. This goal is derived from the Paris climate protection agreement.”A spokesman said that the company is aiming for“complete decarbonization”by 2050. In addition, by 2025 the CO2 emissions of all plants should be halved compared to 2010. Daimler's plants should be CO2-neutral by 2022, the entire group by 2039.
Critics see the carmaker still under pressure when it comes to climate- and environmentally friendly mobility. They demand speed limits, smaller and more purely electric cars and a fundamentally different transport policy. SUV production must end.
The Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is trying to get into conversation with the critics. The IAA has changed from a car to a mobility fair, said association chief Bernhard Mattes. The long-term goal remains CO2-neutral mobility in the year 2050. VW CEO Herbert Diess also emphasized: “We believe that the car still has a great future in the new world.” The ID.3 is “more than a new model . “This is the car that is expected of us now.” It is a “decisive moment”. (dpa)
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