Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has made some interesting remarks, in a Linkedin discussion with Bill Gates pointing out that Formula E only makes sense “if we get carbon-free electricity soon”. He added that “It’s possible, but Germany’s target date to exit coal power only by 2038 is for a rich, tech-leading country by far not ambitious enough”.
Diess heads the Volkswagen group, which has cars racing in Formula E under the Porsche and Audi brands says that he prefers Formula 1 and thinks that it would be better to push ahead with technology in motor racing.
“F1 becoming CO2-neutral, using synthetic fuels, is much more excitement, fun, racing experience, tech-competition than Formula E driving a few laps in city centers in gaming mode.”
Diess points out that this is a personal view, but it does show that there is still potential for Volkswagen brands to be in Formula 1 in the future, if the sport chooses the right paths for development in the future. The thinking is logical given that the drive towards electric-powered cars makes no real sense unless you have CO2-free electricity available, because the current electricity grids cannot cope with the numbers of electric cars which politicians are insisting upon. And the only way to get to the levels required in the time available is to build nuclear power stations, which inevitably have other flaws as they produce nuclear waste.
Diess has a Ph.D in mechanical engineering from the Technical University in Munich and spent 15 years with BMW before joining Volkswagen in 2015 as head of the VW brand and became chairman of the board of management of the VW group in 2018. The company’s brand include Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Source: JSBN
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