put a gasoline engine

“Between 2033 and 2035”. That was the approximate date that Volkswagen gave to stop selling vehicles with internal combustion engine in Europe. Obviously, he also talked about plug -in hybrids. It was the year 2021 And the industry seemed to walk to “all electric” in our continent In the middle of a fever that pushed brands to show themselves as the fastest company to jump into the electric car.

Shortly after, in 2022, The company was more concise and began to make it clear that the electric car prioritized against combustion but sales They have not finished accompanying. Although the commitment to the electric car has been giant within the company, to the point of compromise your accounts in the short termit has not been until this year and taking advantage of a hard Tesla crisis when they have achieved sell more electric vehicles than those of Elon Musk.

The results, therefore, do not seem to be expected. And, consequently, they have already begun to slide that perhaps they were wrong with their focus. This is what the words of Martin Sander, a member of the Volkswagen Sales and Marketing Council to Auto Express during the last Shanghai Motor Show.

The Chinese secret of the extended range

“I think that for a long time we will see combustion engines in our vehicles but for a different purpose. We believe that in Europe there will be space for an autonomy extensor on the road to the battery electric car,” Sander told the English environment.

In his statements, the Volkswagen executive stressed that the company was fixing what happens around it: “Here in China we will have autonomy extensors with possibly 250-300 km of electric autonomy. The combustion engine on board is basically a generator to load the battery.”

This peculiar plug -in hybrid is what in Europe we know as an extended range electric, a very little used formula but that more and more companies begin to see in it a short -term solution in the transition to the electric car. Is the one that implements Mazda at MX-30 But it is also a formula that has triumphed in China and that begins to export to Europe.

In this case, the car uses a battery of a considerable size that allows you to travel the 250 or 300 kilometers in electric mode mentioned by Sander. The combustion engine only nourishes a gas tank designed exclusively to support the electric motor in case of emergency since those electrical kilometers should be enough for the vast majority of trips.

When the combustion engine comes into operation, it acts as a series hybrid. That is, the engine generates electricity to the battery by burning the fuel and it is the battery that nourishes electric motors that, in turn, push the wheels. What is achieved is that the touch of the car is very similar to that of an electric despite being moved by gasoline, as is the case in the Nissan Qashqai.

These types of solutions are common in China. Small electric cars succeed in the Asian country because cities are huge and longer trips are not usually done by car. However, those who do need this support for a gasoline engine have extended range electricity that are cars that are categorized as electric (both options are called “New energy vehicles”), with the tax advantages that this implies.

The solution can be especially interesting for Volkswagen in Europe. Since 2025, the homologation of plug -in hybrids has changed, reflecting the Triple of emissions that so far Despite being the same car. This complicates things when fulfilling Maximum emissions imposed by 2027. Before, a plug -in hybrid was the shortest and most attractive path to reduce emissions, today it is no longer such a useful path.

However, if the electrical autonomy of plug -in hybrids sold in Europe (which in most cases does not reach 100 km of approved electrical autonomy) duplicate or triple this figure, CO2 emissions in homologation will fall dramatically, bringing emissions objectives.

This extended range electric option is something that is also playing Mazda to offer sports cars not including a huge battery that ruins its historical commitment to lightness and light cars.

Photo | Volkswagen

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