VW drives customers to use green energy

In the first crossover partnership of its kind in Britain between a car company and an energy company, VW will encourage customers who buy an electric vehicle to switch their energy supply to a renewable supplier.

Ecotricity, which will provide the energy, said the promotion is “the last piece in the jigsaw” for green motoring.

Customers that buy an electric VW or Audi will be provided with a pack, containing information on how to switch to Ecotricity, which provides renewable energy.

VW has set its sights on market leadership in electric cars, with 14 electric and hybrid models expected next year. And renewable energy is nothing new to the cmpany either as earlier this year it took the title for the largest solar PV array of any car manufacturer in the US.

“We are electrifying all vehicle classes, and therefore have everything we need to make the Volkswagen Group the top automaker in all respects, including electric mobility, by 2018,” said professor Martin Winterkorn, the group’s CEO on the eve of the 65th International Motor Show in Frankfurt last month.

“The electric car cannot be a compromise on wheels, it must convince customers in every respect,” he added.

A report last year found that electric vehicles could produce more greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than efficient diesel engines if coal was used to produce the energy.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that the global warming potential of electric vehicles production can be twice that of conventional vehicles. They also said it is “counterproductive to promote electric vehicles in regions where electricity is primarily produced from lignite, coal or even heavy oil combustion”.

Commenting on the new partnership with VW, Ecotricity founder Dale Vince said: “Ideally an electric car should be charged using 100 per cent renewable energy; otherwise you are still powering it from fossil fuels. Running a car on green electricity from the wind and the sun is the last piece of the jigsaw; it’s the ultimate in green motoring.”

Earlier this year Ecotricity announced a partnership with Nissan to increase electric vehicle charge points across the UK and last month announced it was undercutting some tariffs from the ‘big six’.