Volkswagen is accelerating its plans for all-electric autos in a bid to develop into “the world’s most fascinating model for sustainable mobility,” a title arguably already owned by Tesla.

The German automaker Friday morning stated greater than 70% of its Volkswagen model’s European gross sales can be EVs by 2030, up from a earlier goal of 35%. Within the U.S. and China, it expects half of its gross sales to be EVs by that time-frame.

“We’re stepping up the tempo,” Ralf Brandstaetter, who leads the Volkswagen model, stated in a press release. “Within the coming years, we’ll change Volkswagen as by no means earlier than.” The corporate additionally owns Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche and a number of other different luxurious manufacturers, however Friday’s announcement applies to VW branded autos, which embrace the Passat and Jetta.

Volkswagen stated it plans to spend about 16 billion euros ($19 billion) for funding sooner or later developments akin to “e-mobility, hybridization and digitalization” by 2025. The automaker additionally plans to make autonomous driving options extensively accessible by 2030.

Volkswagen is the newest automaker to speed up or announce a shift away from autos with conventional inner combustion engines to all-electric motors. Volvo earlier this week stated it’s going to solely provide EVs by the top of the last decade, whereas General Motors has stated it plans to develop into a fully electric automaker by 2035. Stellantis, the product of the merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe, plans to have fully-electric or hybrid variations of all of its autos in Europe by 2025.

Whereas such targets could seem far off, it historically takes automakers 5 to seven years to develop and launch a brand new car. EVs are anticipated to chop down on that timeframe since they require much less elements than conventional gas-powered vehicles and have a number of the similar elements that can be utilized to construct both.

The bulletins observe optimism by investors in EV start-ups in addition to a surge in Tesla’s inventory final yr made the California firm the world’s most valued automaker by market cap.

Authorities incentives and tightening CO2 emissions targets are driving automakers to launch EVs greater than clients are demanding them. IHS Markit reviews EVs accounted for about 3.3% of the 76.5 million autos bought globally in 2020. The analysis agency expects gross sales of EVs to 12.2 million in 2025, indicating annual development of almost 52%.