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Volkswagen CEO Diess Warns Car Plants Are at Risk From Energy Supply Halt

  • Company can fall back on coal for its German power plants: CEO
  • Diess is trying to overhaul the carmaker in challenge to Tesla
Employees fit components to the body of a Volkswagen ID Buzz electric cargo van on the assembly line at the Volkswagen AG plant in Hannover, Germany.

Employees fit components to the body of a Volkswagen ID Buzz electric cargo van on the assembly line at the Volkswagen AG plant in Hannover, Germany.

Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg

Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess warned that the shift away from Russian energy isn’t happening fast enough to shield the German carmaker from a sudden stop in natural-gas deliveries.

VW will keep the ability to run its power plants with coal instead of gas because of Germany’s reliance on Russian imports, Diess said in an interview for the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. While progress has been made sourcing liquefied natural gas from the US and other nations, building up the necessary infrastructure will take time.