The focus on research will help strengthen the competitiveness of
German carmakers and suppliers, senior officials emphasized at a summit
with industry executives, scientists and other experts on the topic of
electric mobility.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said mobility in the future has to be
more "resource independent, environmentally friendly and sustainable,"
adding that Germany is well positioned to keep abreast of global
developments.
Powerful lobby for subsidies
The decision not to offer consumers incentives to buy electric cars,
however, flies in the face of German carmakers, who had lobbied hard for
such support. Stefan Bratzel from the Center of Automotive Technology
at the University of Applied Science in Bergish Gladbach said
incentives, such as tax cuts and premiums, can be "an effective" way to
kick-start demand for products using new technology.
In the run-up to the meeting, senior government officials including
transportation minister Peter Ramsauer had already voiced their
preference for supporting research instead of providing incentives. And
many industry experts agree with the approach.
"The main suppliers of electric cars today are the Japanese," said
Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen
and director of its automotive research center. "Why support the sale of
Japanese cars? Germany needs to invest in research and development if
it wants to be powerful global competitor in this sector."
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes
mit der Bildunterschrift: The
V-8 engine is set to become a thing of the past But if
electric cars are the future (oil supplies are limited, after all) and
Germany wants to be a key player, the country needs to plug into this
nascent electric mobility market fast, observers agree. While the
federal government last year approved billions for its cash-for-clunkers
program to spur new car sales, other countries have launched programs
worth billons of euros to promote electric vehicles.
Under its "National Program for Electric Mobility," Germany aims to
put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020. The country currently
has around 45 million registered cars. The public-private program,
agreed last year, has so far distributed government funds of 500 million
euros to 150 projects over a three-year period through 2011. It can
also tap into funds from another 200-million-euro research and
development (R&D) program, which runs from 2005 to 2012. The German
auto industry pledged to spend a "substantial” amount of its planned
annual 20-billion-euro R&D budget, but did not name an exact figure.
Japanese lead the market
By comparison, France plans to have two million electric and hybrid
electric-internal combustion cars on its roads by 2020. The government
has agreed to invest 1.5 billion euros in infrastructure and the
development of new electricity-powered vehicles. The US, under its
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has earmarked $2.4 billion (1.8
billion euros) to support the development of electric cars.
Both countries have large auto industries that are trying to catch up
to Japanese carmakers, which have taken a lead not only in developing
new electric and hybrid cars but also in selling them to consumers. And
both offer consumers incentives: France 5,000 euros and the US around
5,500 euros.
The market could be huge. A study conducted by Dudenhoeffer projects
that of the 87 million cars sold globally in 2025, nearly 56 million
will be hybrid or battery-powered vehicles.
Bildunterschrift:
Electric cars will account for more than half of global sales by
2025 The challenges facing electric cars, however, are many.
Batteries, arguably, are the biggest. Some of the first small-series
production cars are equipped with batteries with a capacity of 16 to 12
kilowatt hours, or the equivalent energy content of about two liters of
fuel. This can provide a driving distance of about 100 kilometers or
more but only under slow driving. Performance drops quickly when drivers
speed up or turn on the heat or air-conditioning.
There are other concerns. Some question the "zero" emission rate of
electric cars. Although the electric car itself emits no emissions, the
electricity required to power the batteries does. And if it is produced
by coal, the carbon-footprint is substantial. The German Automobile Club
(ADAC) has calculated that Daimler's mini-car Smart emits 86 grams of
carbon dioxide per kilometer with a diesel motor, compared to 107 grams
with an electric motor powered by a battery that has been charged with
electricity from coal power plants.
"It's all about CO2"
In fact, Juergen Resch, head of the Berlin-based environmental
organization Deutsche Umwelthilfe, argues that the government should
focus not on supporting electric cars but on lowering carbon dioxide
emissions from vehicles with combustion motors or with batteries that
have a huge carbon footprint.
"It's really all about CO2, so we need to look at the size and weight
of cars and at their fuel efficiency," he told Deutsche Welle. "And
when it comes to electric cars and their batteries, we need to look at
the energy mix and the level of renewables." Resch is in favour of
incentives that encourage consumers to buy low-emission vehicles –
whether they are equipped with internal combustion or electric engines.
Dudenhoeffer supports government initiatives that strengthen the
competiveness of Germany's auto industry as it enters a new era of
mobility. And he argues that the industry hasn't "missed the boat" on
electric cars, as many other experts maintain.
"Daimler, BMW, Opel and Ford in Germany have done quite a lot in the
area of electric cars already and can compete internationally, but
Volkswagen still has some catching up to do," he told Deutsche Welle.
"And when it comes to storing electricity – essential for electric cars
to succeed – Evonik is a global leader in lithium-ion batteries."
Author: John Blau
Editor: Sam Edmonds
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5533192,00.html