VW’s new car claims to be carbon-neutral at birth

When it goes on sale in the summer of this year, Volkswagen’s new ID.3 electric hatchback will claim to be the most environmentally-friendly car on Earth. That, you would assume, is down to the fact that its combination of batteries and an electric motor means it produces zero emissions of carbon, or anything else for that matter.

VW’s plan is to go further than that, though. In fact, the German car giant says the ID.3 is not just zero-emissions in use (net of how the electricity that charges it up is produced) but is also carbon-neutral as soon as it leaves the factory.

The factory in Zwickau, near Leipzig, where the ID.3 is being built, has already been converted to draw as much of its energy supply as possible from renewable sources. Much of the power for the factory comes from hydropower plants, wind farms and solar parks, and where there are other emissions which can’t be avoided, VW says it will offset them by working with the Katingan Mataya Forest Protection Project on the Indonesian island of Borneo. Most of the emissions needed to build an ID.3 come from the heavy industrial processes needed to make its batteries.

That in part explains why, following years of ever-expanding battery packs in the search for more one-charge range, some car makers are now bringing to market cars with smaller batteries, and shorter ranges, simply because to do so means these cars are less carbon-intensive to build. Honda is about to launch its new small electric car, the 'e', and thanks to a compact battery pack, it will be difficult to drive it anywhere other than on short hops in town. That, though, says Honda, is enough for most customers, and dramatically reduces the car's cradle-to-grave carbon footprint. Mazda will take a similar tack with its new electric MX-30 later this year.

More than just emissions

Subaru, too, says we need to look at more than just emissions coming from a car's exhaust when it's being driven, and be more holistic about a vehicle's environmental impact. A case in point is Subaru's new e-Boxer hybrid engine, now available in the XV crossover and the Forester SUV, quite a thirsty engine by hybrid standards. The company plans to reduce its production of Co2 emissions by 20,000 tonne per year, leading to a 90 per cent reduction by 2050. On top of that, Subaru's European general manager for sales and marketing David Dello Stritto points out that Subaru's main US factory has become so good at recycling that it has required no rubbish collection for four years. Again, the point of emissions being about more than mere driving is made.

As far as other good choices for green motoring in 2020 are concerned, Volkswagen will follow up its carbon-neutral ID.3 with a chunky ID.4 SUV by the end of this year, while Hyundai has just updated its Ioniq Electric with a bigger battery to allow it to glide past 300km on one charge. Peugeot has also just launched its 330km-ranged e-208, while Renault is just now bringing the 52kWh battery Zoe, with a claimed 395km range, to the market.

There are also lots of plug-in hybrids now going on sale, for those who want something a bit more flexible than pure-battery cars, including the Volvo XC40 T5 Twin-Engine, and the heavily revised Volkswagen Passat GTE. VW will be monstering the plug-in market later this year, with sporty plug-in hybrid models boasting 245hp and high performance, in the shape of the new Golf GTE, the Skoda Octavia RS iV, and the Cupra Leon.

Finally, towards the end of the year, we will get possibly the most significant new electric car of the whole year – Ford’s Mustang Mach-E electric crossover. Expect a range of more than 600km for the top-spec model, and a potentially Tesla-busting price tag. Green driving has never seemed so cool.