Thursday 10 September 2020

VW to power all German rail freight with renewable energy by 2021

Volkswagen has set out plans to power all rail transport of materials and vehicles inside Germany with 100% green electricity by the start of 2021.

The switch is expected to reduce carbon dioxide by 26,700 tonnes compared to using the standard German electricity mix.

The manufacturer also said more vehicles are set to go by rail in future, with the percentage due to rise from 53% today to 60% in 2022.

When operations are running normally, approximately 190,000 freight wagons a year are in use for Volkswagen.

On average, 38 long-distance and 157 local trains a day deliver materials to the plants - in total around 100,000 wagons a year.

Thomas Zernechel, Head of Volkswagen Group Logistics, said: "No carmaker in Europe transports more freight by rail using renewable electric power than Volkswagen.

"In addition to our electric vehicle production having a carbon-neutral footprint, this is a further element in being able, for instance, to hand vehicles from the Volkswagen ID range to customers without any carbon dioxide baggage."