Editor's note: An earlier version of this story overstated the number of full-electric cars for which VW has booked production. The figure is 15 million by 2025.
HERNDON, Virginia — If electric vehicles fail to catch on globally over the next several years, it will be because Volkswagen did not try, CEO Herbert Diess says.
The German automaker's plan to flood the globe with tens of millions of capable, affordable and profitable EVs beginning next year — the direct result of a strategy shift that came after getting caught cheating on diesel-emissions testing — could move EVs from niche to mainstream products, Diess said in an exclusive interview.
"Now we're coming into an age where electric cars will play a major role. We will be very big in electric cars worldwide because we are very strong in China. We have huge economies of scale, and we will bring those cars here" to the U.S., Diess told Automotive News Oct. 31.