How Volkswagen Transitioned From Climate Cheater To EV Leader

How Volkswagen Transitioned From Climate Cheater To EV Leader

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This article comes to us courtesy of EVANNEX, which makes and sells aftermarket Tesla accessories. The opinions expressed therein are not necessarily our own at InsideEVs, nor have we been paid by EVANNEX to publish these articles. We find the company's perspective as an aftermarket supplier of Tesla accessories interesting and are happy to share its content free of charge. Enjoy! Posted on EVANNEX on December 22, 2022, by Charles Morris Most of our readers are probably familiar with what we call the Dirty Diesel Debacle. In 2015, the US EPA charged Volkswagen with installing software in its diesel cars that allowed it to cheat on emissions tests. Investigations from European regulators followed, the company (naturally) tried to cover up the scandal, executive heads rolled, and the Volkswagen Group was eventually forced to pay some $30 billion in fines and damages. It was a shocking example of deliberate corporate lawbreaking, and VW’s brand seemed irreparably damaged. Above: Volkswagen's logo on a car. (Image: Cesar Salazar / Unsplash) But it wasn’t. Just a few years later, the company is considered a clean vehicle leader. New EVs from Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche are selling well, and Electrify America, the infrastructure company that was established as part of VW’s settlement with the authorities, has rolled out an extensive and rapidly growing charging network across the US. It was one of the most impressive rehabilitations in corporate history—but VW didn’t achieve it alone. In 2016, the company formed a Sustainability Council consisting of nine experts from a wide variety of fields to help it transform itself from a polluting pariah into a pioneer of petrol-free propulsion. One of the members of the Sustainability Council was Margo Oge, a former EPA executive, the author of a book called Driving the Future, as well as numerous articles on clean vehicles, a Tesla driver and “a devoted champion of reducing transportation emissions.” In a recent article for  Forbes , which I highly recommend reading in its entirety, Ms. Oge describes her ground-breaking work with VW’s Sustainability Council. “Of course, some of us were concerned that the Council’s work could devolve into an exercise in greenwashing,” she writes. “However, the challenge of trying to positively impact one of the world’s largest auto companies made the offer hard to pass up. If VW truly committed to zero-emission vehicles, other OEMs would likely follow with similar strategies—a huge win for climate change action.” To their credit, the new leadership at VW understood that substantive action was needed—firing a few execs, paying some fines, then going back to dirty business as usual wasn’t going to cut it this time. “The company had to break away from the past and its diesel-centric strategy, embrace zero-emission vehicles, and enshrine ethical practices across its workforce to restore its brand,” Oge writes. The Sustainability Council outlined a set of three key strategic changes, which VW management adopted to a large extent: Technology Shift: Diesels had become “radioactive,” and the only viable way for VW to rescue its brand and comply with tightening global emissions regulations was to embrace EV technology. Policy Shift: VW had forfeited all its credibility with regulators and policymakers. To rehabilitate its official reputation, the company had to “change its position with regulators and NGOs in all key markets and become an advocate for ambitious standards that reduce pollution and drive e-mobility, rather than fighting with policymakers and regulators.” Cultural Shift: “VW needed to drive a culture shift towards a more ethical, collaborative and purpose-driven company that could learn from failures.” Over the course of six years, the Sustainability Council met regularly with top execs, serving under three CEOs—Matthias Mueller, Herbert Diess, and now Oliver Blume. “Our efforts as council were respected by all three,” Margo writes, and “our excha...