Volkswagen plotting huge CO2 reduction targets

Volkswagen will invest up to €40 million ($A62.4m) in wind and solar projects in Europe by 2025 as part of a raft of measures designed to ensure it is carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest.

Announcing the plans overnight, Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter declared the German car giant would slash CO2 on average by 17 tonnes per car by 2030, reducing its emissions by 40 per cent compared to 2018.

As part of its plans, VW said it would join forces with German power company RWE to create a solar park that will be completed in 2022. Once fully operational it will have enough capacity to supply energy to around 50,000 households.

The solar park will be followed by other solar and wind turbine renewable energy projects as the car-maker branches out into becoming a major supplier of renewable energy globally.

The 'Way to Zero' roadmap also sees Volkswagen reassert its claim that by 2030 70 per cent of its European sales will be from pure-electric models.

Volkswagen's factories in Europe are all powered by renewable energy, and the company plans to copy this approach with almost all its global manufacturing bases – the exceptions being its 33 factories in China.

VW said it would also investigate its supply chain and look to slash CO2-emitting elements among third-party suppliers.

A higher proportion of sustainable materials will also be implemented in all models, including wheels made of cast aluminium and tyres made out of low-emission compounds.

Improved battery recycling, meanwhile, will see the car-maker repurpose 90 per cent of materials currently used in a typical lithium-ion power pack.

Commenting on the move to net zero emissions, Brandstätter said: “Our big electric offensive was just the start. We’re taking a holistic approach to decarbonisation: from production through service life to recycling.”