Volkswagen was a little late to the hybrid game, but the company has ambitious plans to offer a hybrid variant of every model they produce.
Speaking with Auto Motor und Sport, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn revealed that he doesn't believe EV technology is ready for the prime time and is "firmly convinced" plug-in hybrids will be the only viable option for the next ten years.
Winterkorn also went on record to say that range-extended vehicles - like the Chevrolet Volt - make a lot of sense and the company has developed a TT prototype that uses a single-cylinder engine to augment an electric powertrain.
Despite his negatively towards current EV techonlogy, Winterkorn is optimistic about the future as he noted lithium-sulfur batteries have three times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries. More importantly, the upcoming lithium-air batteries, due in 2025, could have four to five times the energy density. That's a long way away, but the executive indicated the lithium-air technology could enable an EV to travel up to 800 km (497 miles) on a single charge.
