Volkswagen to develop electric trucks and buses in $1.7 billion technology drive

Volkswagen AG is going to invest 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in new technologies consisting of electric trucks and buses by 2022, VW’s trucks chief Andreas Renschler stated.

The money will go toward electric drives, autonomous automobiles and cloud-based systems, he stated on the sidelines of a business event on Wednesday.

He likewise said a spin-off of VW’s trucks service remained an option.

Commercial truck makers are investing in electrification as regulators and policy makers increase pressure to reduce or get rid of pollution in major cities.

Navistar International and Volkswagen Truck & Bus revealed plans last month to collaborate on electric vehicles, saying they would introduce an electric medium-duty truck in North America by 2019.

Volkswagen’s rival Daimler last month provided the first of a smaller range of electric delivery van to consumers in New York.

Renschler earlier informed news agency Bloomberg he expected electric trucks for regional deliveries to go beyond a 5 percent market share by 2025.