DDB New Zealand | Volkswagen

Insight:
Kombi drivers are a passionate bunch. They own their cars for years and pass them down through generations. Once upon a time they were the poster children for progressiveness and a better world. Unfortunately, the Kombi is still a petrol car.

As part of Volkswagen’s push to a more sustainable future, we wanted to leverage the original spirit of flower power and the Kombi, but to do that we needed to make a change to the Kombi itself.

The Greenprint is an open-source set of plans that anyone can use to turn their Kombi into an electric vehicle (EV), in 20 easy-ish steps. We made an all-in-one kit, or owners could source the parts themselves with our approved list, at no additional cost.

Impact:
The Greenprint has created a new avenue for Volkswagen to address sustainability, while connecting with a highly engaged group – fans of their heritage vehicles.

The Kombi Greenprint is the first set of plans ever created, but these are universal and now available in perpetuity. These plans have been downloaded over 2,000 times in a country with only 1,000 Kombis. Each vehicle converted saves, on average, 1.7 tons of carbon per year, and that doesn’t include the carbon cost of new cars that don’t need to be created when these existing vehicles are modernized.

Zero new vehicles were sold as a result of this campaign, as intended.