(Yicai Global) Jan. 21 -- Volkswagen Group China has no current plans to introduce electric vehicle models equipped with a new type of battery with a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers, said Chief Executive Stephan Wöllenstein.

The relentless pursuit of mileage creates a vicious cycle, he said, after various Chinese new energy vehicle makers' pledges this month to unveil such products sparked controversy.

Fuel car models do not brag about range as excellent gas station systems already exist, Wöllenstein told Yicai Global in an interview yesterday. NEV models' emphasis on mileage thus merely reflects the imperfection of charging infrastructure, he noted.

The longer an EV model's range, the bigger its battery, Wöllenstein stated, adding larger batteries translate into higher costs.

The ID.4 Crozz's Long Range version, a VW electric sport utility vehicle whose pre-sales just began, can run up to 550 kilometers and is priced under CNY240,000 (USD37,000). The auto giant managed to increase the EV's range to 700 km while ensuring battery safety, he said.

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Shanghai-based EV brand Nio rolled out its first model equipped with a semi-solid cell this month. Its mileage will top 1,000 km. Mass production will start in 2022. Large Chinese automaker GAC Group's EV marque announced a plan to introduce a model with super-fast charging graphene batteries 80 percent chargeable within eight minutes and with mileage of up to 1,000 km.

Experts are dubious as to such claims. Charging speed, long-range, battery safety and low cost are mutually exclusive at the present technological stand, said Ouyang Minggao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an expert in automobile power systems.

Safety issues also persist in EV batteries. They are generally 99 percent safe, but have a 1 percent risk of spontaneous combustion. Solid-state batteries that offer higher energy density resolve these issues. VW is set to mass produce these between 2023 and 2025.

The German carmaker announced a further USD200 million investment in US-based solid-state battery developer QuantumScape in June 2019 to further develop such batteries.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Ben Armour, Xiao Yi