Who’s Going Electric and When?

BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC 22

WHO’S GOING ELECTRIC AND WHEN?

The automotive industry is heading towards an electric future, with the majority of manufacturers outlining specific strategies to ditch ICE vehicles and roll out a number of new and exciting electric models. But who is leading the race and who is lagging behind?

23 BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC

BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC 24 ASTON MARTIN

Whilst the Gaydon-based manufacturer has yet to unveil any fully electric vehicles, Aston Martin has entered its electrification era, with its first plug-in hybrid supercar, the highly anticipated ‘Valhalla’ to be available from early 2024. By 2026, Aston Martin says all new product lines will have an electrified powertrain option, with a target for its core portfolio to be fully electrified by the end of the decade.

FORD

Ford has made regular updates to its electrification strategy, with 40% of its sales being all-electric by 2030 being its most recent goal. In March 2022, it also pledged that it is ‘targeting zero emissions for all vehicle sales in Europe and carbon neutrality across its European footprint of facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035.’ It is also investing $22 billion in electrification through 2025 as part of its plan to lead electrification in areas of strength. The company is electrifying its most iconic products – the Mustang, F-150 and Transit – with many more to come in the years ahead. Ford is also working with other automakers where it sees opportunities in markets it does not have scale. It has invested $500 million in electric vehicle startup Rivian, and will use Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive architecture to develop another all-electric vehicle for the European market beginning in 2023. Ford, GM, and Stellantis, also known as the Detroit Big Three, have also announced a joint goal for electric vehicles to achieve 40% to 50% of their sales in the US by 2030.

AUDI

With a number of impressive EV models already released, such as the Audi e-tron and Q4 e-tron, Audi has got the ball rolling with its electrification plans in some style. But the Ingolstadt manufacturer isn’t done there. Audi’s goal is to offer more than 30 electrified cars by 2025, with 20 being full BEVs. Looking further ahead, it also plans to stop production of combustion engine vehicles by 2033.

25 BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC

BMW

2022 is an important year for BMW’s EV ambitions as it added the all-new i4 and iX to its lineup of zero-emission vehicles. As the brand approaches the middle of the decade, it hopes to have delivered around two million fully electric vehicles to customers, accounting for between 15-25% of sales. BMW has also said that by 2023 it will offer a BEV in every relevant segment, and will deliver 10 million BEVs over the next ten years. The MINI brand will also go all-electric from 2030, as will Rolls-Royce, with the luxury manufacturer set to release its very first electric car soon (which you can read about on page 13).

BMW’S IX SUV WILL BE RELEASED LATER THIS YEAR

MERCEDES-BENZ

Mercedes-Benz has announced plans to move its entire product portfolio to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030, to be supported by a £34bn investment and plans to run eight gigafactories for battery production. By 2022, Mercedes-Benz will have battery electric vehicles in all segments the company serves. From 2025 onwards, all newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only and customers will be able to choose an all-electric alternative for every model the company makes. To facilitate this shift, Mercedes-Benz is unveiling a comprehensive plan which includes significantly accelerating R&D. In total, investments into battery electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030 will amount to over €40 billion.

TOYOTA

Toyota’s Beyond Zero (BZ) strategy outlines the Japanese manufacturer’s ambitions to produce 30 battery-electric vehicles by the end of the decade, with the aim selling more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles around the world annually, including more than 1 million zero-emission vehicles (battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles). TOYOTA’S BZ4X WILL MARK THE START OF A GLOBAL EV MOVEMENT FOR THE JAPANESE BRAND

BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC 26 HYUNDAI-KIA

With the Ioniq 5 and the EV6, Hyundai and Kia have debatably released two of the most highly regarded EVs on the market today, which bodes well for the aims of achieving a 7% global market share in electric cars by mid-decade. In order to achieve these goals, Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has revealed E-GMP, a new platform that’ll form the foundations of its next generation of electric cars. That platform, it says, will see 11 of 23 EVs on sale by 2025.’ Kia had announced plans to launch seven new electric vehicles by 2027, but it has since revised that statement to unveiling a range of EVs to 14 models within the same time period. As part of this plan, the brand says it will release two new electric vehicles every year between 2023 and 2027.

NISSAN

As part of its Ambition 2030 strategy, Nissan intends for half of all sales globally, including those of Infiniti, to be electrified by the end of the decade, led by adoption in Europe. By 2026, the manufacturer will have committed 2 trillion yen (c.£12.4bn) with a lineup of 20 vehicles with electric powertrains. By 2030, Nissan will offer 23 electrified models, including 15 new EVs. It also aims to launch EVs with its proprietary all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by fiscal year 2028 to contribute to the fullscale democratization of EVs.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER VOLKSWAGEN

As one of the largest automotive groups in the world, Volkswagen is also planning to invest the most amount of money out of any car brand or group. It plans to pump £76 billion into new technology over the next four years, as it bids to make a quarter of all its sales batteryelectric by the end of 2026. The Group’s ‘Accelerate’ strategy also aims to increase the proportion of unit sales accounted for by purely electric vehicles to at least 70 percent in Europe and to more than 50 percent in North America and China by 2030. In 2030, nine out of 14 Volkswagen models will be purely electric vehicles. The last purely combustion-driven platform will be developed in 2026. After that, only electric vehicles will be developed. Along with Seat, Volkswagen will also invest 10 billion euros for the construction of the first Gigafactory in Spain. The figure represents the single largest industrial investment in Spain’s history, with construction of the Gigafactory to begin in the first quarter of 2023, with production scheduled for 2026. The Gigafactory will have an annual production capacity of 40 GWh, supplying the total volume of cells to Martorell and Pamplona. It will employ more than 3,000 people by 2030 and occupy an area of 200 hectares.

VOLKSWAGEN WILL INVEST £76 BILLION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF EVS OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

Since the launch of the critically acclaimed I-Pace, JLR has not revisited the electric vehicle market, but it has committed to becoming a fully electric brand from as early as 2025. With that in mind, we should be seeing details for new, electric Jaguar’s in no time at all. Land Rover is also taking steps towards an electric future, with six new all-electric 4x4s due in the next five years.

27 BRANDS GOING ELECTRIC

LOTUS

In our last issue, we detailed Lotus’ latest electric venture, as the Norwichbased manufacturer pulled the covers off the world’s first electric hyperSUV, the Eletre, earlier this year. The Eletre, which is scheduled to come later this year, will be followed by an electric four-door coupe (2023), a smaller SUV (2025) and an all-electric sports car (2026). Lotus also has the end of combustion engine products in sight, with the Emire set to be the brands final petrol-powered car.

THE LOTUS ELETRE WILL BE THE ‘WORLD’S FIRST’ ELECTRIC HYPER-SUV

MAZDA

Mazda is set to add three additional pure EVs to its lineup by 2025 as part of its Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 strategy. This electrification blueprint will also see every new Mazda featuring some degree of electrification by the end of the decade and a quarter will be full BEVs.

RENAULT

Having been one of the first manufacturers to spearhead the EV movement with the ZOE, Renault is now planning to introduce ten new electric vehicles by 2025. Looking towards the end of the decade, the manufacturer is planning to have 90% of its models electrified by 2030 and carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040.

HONDA

Japanese-brand Honda has committed £31 billion to electrify its range of vehicles, as well as announcing a series of new EVs, two electric sports cars and for production of combustion engine vehicles to be halted by 2040.

STELLANTIS

Automotive giant Stellantis, which represents 16 brands including Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall, has put its foot down on its electrification offensive with an expansive target of 70% of its sales to be ‘low-emissions vehicles (LEV)’ by 2030, compared with 14% today. The group will aim to reach carbon net zero by 2038, achieving a 50% reduction by 2030. As well as this, the brand is setting the target of 100% of sales in Europe and 50% of sales in the United States to be battery electric vehicles by the end of this decade. To achieve this, Stellantis will have an offering of more than 75 BEVs and global annual BEV sales of five million vehicles by 2030. It will also launch a specific U.S. product offensive of more than 25 all-new BEVs, as Stellantis looks to double net revenues to $300 billion by 2030. The group has also set its sights on reaching global BEV sales of five million units in 2030, reaching 100% of passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger cars and light-duty trucks in the United States.

VOLVO

Separate to its electric division Polestar, Volvo has committed to making half of its sales electric by 2025, making the Swedish brand one of the slowest on this list to make the switch over to electric.