Manufacturers rely on sales of cars with internal combustion engines to develop electric cars.
VW boss Diess doesn't seem to care.
Wolfsburg - Herbert Diess is known for causing controversy.
The head of Volkswagen, for example, recently tweeted that the car, regardless of the drive, looked rather bad: “Cycling is fun, healthy and good for the environment.
In overcrowded urban centers, the car - including the emission-free e-car - will only be accepted in the future if the bike has enough space in the mobility mix. "
With a catalog of demands on politics shortly after the federal election, Diess earned a lot of ridicule and malice.
And at the VW management conference, Elon Musk, a kind of archenemy of traditional car manufacturers, was added as a surprise guest.
Diess indirectly advises against buying VW combustion engines: electric cars are much cheaper
Now Diess used LinkedIn to denigrate drivers the purchase of a car with a combustion engine. “Driving a car with a combustion engine costs up to 50 percent more than an electric car!” He wrote on the career portal. Taking all costs into account, driving a VW Tiguan costs around 30 percent more per kilometer than with an ID.4, with an Audi Q5 around 40 percent more than with a Q4 e-tron. Driving a Skoda Kodiaq is around 50 percent more expensive per kilometer than an Enyaq. For the numbers, Diess refers to the
Auto Zeitung
. He closes his post with “It's time to change”.
With this, Diess is not reporting anything new.
Thanks to the environmental bonus and tax exemption, electric cars are currently promising an inexpensive form of mobility.
In fact, there are some costs that will be lower in the future than for cars with internal combustion engines, such as engine maintenance.
When it comes to electricity costs compared to fuel costs, electric cars are usually cheaper to get around.
Diess also believes that electricity will become cheaper in the longer term, despite the current rise in prices.
VW: Electric cars only make up a fraction of group sales
But Diess pours fuel on the fire with his contribution.
Because currently the fuel prices are reaching highs.
According to an ADAC evaluation, a new all-time high for diesel in the nationwide daily average was reached on Monday (October 18) at 1.557 euros per liter.
Super E10 also continues to rise, on a national average to 1.670 euros per liter.
German drivers drive to neighboring countries whenever possible to avoid the high fuel prices.
The Volkswagen boss gives motorists an argument not to buy their own combustion engines.
In the industry, this means that the proceeds from this technology are used to finance the development of electric cars.
Although Volkswagen is selling more and more electric cars, the group doubled its electric car sales to 293,100 in the first nine months of 2021.
The share of e-cars rose to six percent worldwide.
But that also means that 94 percent of all cars sold are still equipped with internal combustion engines.
VW delivered a total of 9.31 million cars in 2020.