Volkswagen: Want an electric ute? Buy a van

While the Ford Ranger has branched out into the world of electrification with the aptly named Ranger PHEV, Volkswagen says it’s not suffering without an electrified Amarok and reckons electric vans are a much better solution to cleaning up the commercial vehicle sector.

Volkswagen Australia says a global directive against the electrification of the Amarok isn’t holding it back from decarbonising its commercial fleet, claiming that when it comes to the greenification of its workhorses, vans make far more sense than any plug-in hybrid or electric ute.

With plenty of electric van options now in its showrooms – and more on the way – the automaker’s commercial arm is helping balance the company’s emissions ledger to ensure its customers aren’t stung by the impacts of New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) fines.

“We’ve got the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo here at the moment, which is generating [NVES] credits for us,” Volkswagen Commercial brand director Nathan Johnson said.

“We also have the Transporter BEV which we launched [in November 2025], we will introduce the Transporter PHEV variant in Q2, and then we also have the opportunity with Caddy PHEV and Multivan PHEV as well, which is hugely exciting for us.

“So our strategy moving forward will be to have a very balanced portfolio, so that we don’t have to charge our customers [due to NVES] in any way, shape or form – and that is from a Volkswagen Commercial perspective.”

But why not electrify the Amarok?

After all, with the Ford Ranger PHEV already on the market, the Amarok’s underpinnings are technologically ready for a plug-in powertrain, and the BYD Shark 6 – which sold just over 18,000 units in 2025 – proves there’s a healthy number of Aussies who aren’t afraid of putting a PHEV ute in their driveway.

But VW Australia’s hands are tied; an electrified Amarok isn’t on the cards for any global market for the remaining life of the current Ford-based ute.

“Our CEO, Stefan Mecha, is on record as saying that we won’t be having [electrification] on this current generation,” Johnson said.

“We are happy with that, and we’ll look at what’s in front of us: at the moment we have opportunities on the other model lines to be really successful there from a PHEV and BEV point of view, and Amarok will stick to a diesel and petrol strategy at this point in time.”

And from VW’s point of view, electrified utes are an unattractive compromise with current powertrain tech.

“We want a balanced portfolio towards 2030 in terms of both demand and emissions regulations,” VW Australia’s acting general manager of corporate communications Daniel DeGasperi said.

“We currently put a lot of effort into PHEV and BEV in the van space where you don’t need to tax your electric motor and battery to also tow 3.5 tonnes.

“You also don’t need to go off-roading and have low range and so forth – vans typically don’t need that, and so that’s the space for PHEV and BEV for us going forward.

“For us, having a PHEV and BEV strategy with vans does make more sense currently with the current level of technology than it does in the ute segment.

“If you focus on electric range, with the heaviness of a battery you might compromise on payload, you might compromise on off-road ability.

“Or you can have it the other way around: you compromise on electric range, but you have the same towing capacity or off-road ability.

“The technology doesn’t currently allow a best-of-both-worlds approach. Maybe in the future, technology always changes, but right now for PHEVs and BEVs, everything works best from an outcome perspective with vans.”

Though technically possible, VW’s head office remains opposed to electrifying the Amarok.

The reason may be political – Ford has, after all, put certain aspects of the Ford Ranger’s hardware behind a wall that VW can’t breach, things like the Raptor powertrain and coil-sprung rear end, as well as everything pertaining to the Ranger Super Duty – or it may be economic.

Electrified powertrains are expensive to manufacture, even when battery sizes are small, which erodes profit margins.

But for tradies wanting to emit less on their way to and from the jobsite, VW will still be able to cater for them.

Besides the already-launched ID. Buzz Cargo and e-Transporter, more plug-in hybrids will be joining the local VW showroom later this year to offer petrol-electric flexibility.

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