Volkswagen chairman Dr. Martin Winterkorn has clearly reiterated the company’s position on electric cars saying that we will see an all electric Volkswagen Golf in 2013. Interestingly he also alluded to not compromising on vehicle range, this is currently a big problem with lithium-ion batteries, and would potentially indicate that the VW partnerships with Toshiba and Samsung on battery technology may have made some technological steps forward that have not been made public yet. Dr. Winterkorn was clear on one point, that Volkswagen cars would undergo a serious weightloss feat utilising ultralight materials like carbon fibre and magnesium.

Volkswagen do have a number of hybrid models on the road currently and are planning to extend their hybrid line up although they have made it clear that they consider hybrids to be a “bridging” technology and their strategy calls for an eventual 100% electric vehicle model line. VW are on target to be the worlds number 1 vehicle manufacturer by 2018 and in order to attain that position they’ll need to have at least one foot planted firmly in the rapidly growing electric and hybrid electric vehicle marketplace.