Through the looking glass: Volkswagen has shown steady interest in the electric market but hasn't yet made a move befitting their $236 billion yearly revenue. In the past year, they sold 70,000 electric vehicles. Tesla, on just $21 billion sales per year, sells about three times that.

In 2020 Volkswagen is going on the offensive with the launch of their ID electric fleet. While they had originally planned to be making one million electric cars per year by 2025, they now believe they can be selling one and a half million electric cars by then. Their new goal is to sell one million per year in 2023.

"2020 will be a key year for the transformation of Volkswagen. With the market launch of the ID.3 and other attractive models in the ID family, our electric offensive will also become visible on the roads," said Thomas Ulbrich, who runs Volkswagen's electric division. "Our new overall plan for 1.5 [million] electric cars in 2025 shows that people want climate-friendly individual mobility---and we are making it affordable for millions of people."

Revealed last September, the Volkswagen ID.3 (above) is meant to represent the third generation in Volkswagen's evolution - sort of succeeding the Golf like the Golf succeeded the Beatle. It targets a similar market to the Tesla Model 3 with a 30,000-euro ($33,500) price tag for the base model with optional upgrades to range and power, but it's a little more grounded in its design than its competitors. It's a Golf if the Golf had been electric all along, with all the benefits of both being electric and of Volkswagen design.

Volkswagen's factory in Zwickau, Germany, is already equipped to make 330,000 ID.3's per year. That's a far cry from a million, but still impressive. Tesla had enough trouble getting the Model 3 built at a rate of 5,000 per week, which equates to about 260,000 per year, when it first launched. With plans on making an even cheaper electric hatchback, sedans, a variety of SUVs and even a buggy, Volkswagen might just achieve their lofty goals.