Lowering Raw Material Prices, Volkswagen Believes In Affordable Electric Car Production

JAKARTA - Slowly some automotive brands move to the world of electrification. However, it is not easy to convince consumers to buy electric vehicles.

Some consumers may not have sufficient knowledge of electric car technology and its benefits, so they are less interested in buying it. In addition, charging facilities for electric cars are still limited in several places, and this can reduce consumer attraction to buy electric cars for fear of having difficulty finding charging stations while traveling long distances.

However, the biggest inhibition factor for consumers to buy electric cars is the question of prices that have not met the word "affordable". This is what underlies companies like the Volkswagen Group as having the desire to release VW's "cheap" electric vehicle.

Volkswagen recently announced that it is working on a lower variant (entry-level) electric vehicle with a price range of 20,000 euros or around IDR 320 million, known as the "ID.1" model.

"For now, we are quite sure that we can reach that price point. There are many innovations that come from a technical point of view. This car has the first battery cell from our factory in Valencia," said Arno Antlitz, VW's Chief Financial Officer, as reported by Autocar, Thursday, May 11.

Antlitz added that by looking at the price of battery raw materials such as lithium and nickel which are now experiencing a decline, his party is quite confident that they can produce electric vehicles at friendly prices.

"At this perspective, we are quite sure that we can achieve the target of 25,000 euros (around Rp. 400 million) and at the same time have a decent margin," Antlitz explained.

As is known, VW introduced the concept of ID.2all in March, known as the "Polo EV" and targeted at a price of 25,000 euros.

On the other hand, an affordable electric model is also being developed by rival Renault.