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By Charl Bosch

Motoring Journalist


Volkswagen Tech boss: Still life left in internal combustion power

Development of cleaner fuels are offsetting ever more stringent emissions regulations.


Despite its focus and large scale investment into electrical powertrains, Volkswagen has confirmed that it will stick with internal combustion engines for the foreseeable future due to ongoing advancements.

According to Wolfsburg’s Technical Developments Operations Head, Matthias Rabe, the development of cleaner fuels are offsetting ever more stringent emissions regulations, which, together with the weight and limitations of modern batteries, are resulting in the life of petrol and diesel engines being prolonged.

“We will come to e-fuels. If you look at the aviation industry, e-fuels are in high demand because [planes] won’t go electric, otherwise you won’t cross the Atlantic. We take our CO2 targets very seriously and want to be a role model on CO2, but that doesn’t mean we will exclude the combustion engine,” Rabe told Britain’s Autocar.

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