VW commits to green electricity 15 | 10 | 2013
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP UK has signed a partnership deal with green energy supplier, Ecotricity, to provide a 100% green energy offer to all customers purchasing an electric-powered vehicle from one of the group brands.
VW's first electric car to enter Scottish showrooms will be the e-up!. First deliveries are scheduled for January 2014, and will be followed by the e-Golf in the summer, with the much-hyped Audi A3 Sportback e-tron plug-in hybrid (pictured) arriving at the end of the year.
The announcement comes a few weeks after the VW Group’s chairman, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, announced the company had its sights set on market leadership in electric mobility by 2018.
The deal, which began with initial discussions with several energy companies in January 2013, sees Ecotricity become the preferred supplier of green energy for Volkswagen Group customers in the UK.
This means that any customer purchasing an electric vehicle from one of the group’s brands will be offered, at point of sale, the option to adopt Ecotricity’s 100% green tariff for their home and vehicle energy supplies.
Ecotricity, the world’s first ‘green electricity’ company, was founded in 1995. Now powering more than 75,000 homes and businesses from its growing fleet of wind and sun parks, Ecotricity is a ‘not-for-dividend’ enterprise that, on average, invests more per customer in building new sources of green electricity than any other energy company in Britain.
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"We’re delighted to be able to offer those customers who are making a choice to purchase an electric-powered car the option to adopt a green energy package, meaning their motoring can be powered by 100% renewable energy," Andrew Bannister, VW Group UK head of environmental management, said.
"We reviewed a number of suppliers and Ecotricity emerged as the best choice for us and our customers. It shares our ambitions for high levels of customer service as well as environmental credentials and we’re confident those choosing an electric group product will appreciate the benefits this new tariff offers them."
The new partnership was also welcomed by Ecotricity founder, Dale Vince OBE.
"As someone who drives an electric vehicle, it is important where your fuel comes from," Vince said. "Ideally an electric car should be charged using 100% 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. Now you can plug your car into your house at the end of each day and recharge it on renewables, it’s an exciting new world.
"We’re really pleased to be working with Volkswagen, a company which is bringing lots of new EVs to the market and wanted to find the best green electricity to embed as part of its offer to customers buying electric vehicles."
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Jim McGill