Volkswagen versus Australia on emissions and EVs

Volkswagen says it probably can't sell EVs and other fuel efficient/zero emissions vehicles in Australia because our emissions regulations are wrong. That's not, like, totally ironic at all, is it?

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"First world markets – where there are significant penalties for failing to meet emissions targets – will naturally be the first in line for zero emission vehicles. It is difficult to explain to parent companies that Australia continues to languish in Euro 5 with no intention of meeting Euro 6 until 2027… As the Volkswagen Group has frequently made clear, Australia is becoming an automotive third world." - Volkswagen Australia

It pains me to have to point out to a carmaker subsidiary that we’re talking about two different things here:

Euro 5 and Euro 6 are exhaust emissions standards for internal combustion engines. They have no bearing on the commercial viability of EVs in any market, at least, not that I can see.

These standards cover oxides of nitrogen (the notorious toxic compounds senior executive Volkswagen shot-callers poisoned the world with using 11 million vehicles as de facto toxin delivery systems just to pump up their profits - and, hey, don’t shoot the messenger; this is a matter of historical fact).

Euro 5 and 6 also cover unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and carcinogenic particles - things of this nature. But they don’t cover CO2 - because CO2 is not strictly pollution. CO2 is an inevitable chemical consequence of hydrocarbon combustion.

NOx and unburned hydrocarbons and particles and carbon monoxide can all be subverted by clever engineering. But CO2 is intrinsic to combustion.

So, even a moron - but apparently not Volkswagen Australia - can see that Euro 5 or Euro 6 have absolutely no bearing on making a case for Volkswagen EVs with the factory in Chermany.

The regulations that would make a difference on this are average CO2 emissions standards. They call them CAFE standards in the US - for ‘Corporate Average Fuel Economy’. Because, as just noted, fuel economy and CO2 emission are flipsides of the same combustion coin.

And because EVs don’t emit tailpipe CO2 - every EV a manufacturer sells reduces the average CO2 emission of its fleet of vehicles.

That’s what we’re really talking about here - a regulatory requirement to meet average CO2 fleet emissions levels. This becomes a lever that demands the sale of a few EVs to make the average CO2 numbers work, and thereby avoid paying fines.