Special The Autobahn goes electric

Car-crazy Germany has been lagging behind when it comes to making hybrid and electric cars. German car makers have focused too long on protecting their vested interests and the government did too little to make them change their mind. But times are changing. Fahren auf der Autobahn is about to become an electrifying experience.

September / October 2009 European Energy Review

20 Electric car Special

| by Stefan Nicola

‘We would like to connect with hybrid and electric vehicles, have over the past years focused Critics say the carmakers have people through their normal, and about exciting mobility on making gasoline and been pushed too little by the everyday occurrences. And we concepts of the future. But does diesel engines more efficient. government. As an example, aim to inspire our visitors to start this forward-looking attitude Admittedly, they are world a government plan to colour- thinking about where they could really enter the research leaders in this now. Some 120 code cars according to their maybe change their behaviour and production facilities of of the 170 models offered by level of “sustainability” was to live more sustainably,’ says Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW? the Volkswagen group (which blocked by conservatives Maria Schneider. Not really, critics say. includes Audi) have a carbon acting at the behest of the car Schneider is creative director ‘The German car industry has dioxide footprint of less than companies. ‘You can’t really of Autostadt, Volkswagen’s slept through the trend toward 140g per kilometer – a pretty expect the car makers to bring huge mobility theme park electric mobility,’ Ferdinand impressive efficiency track about this transition to EVs,’ located right next to its Dudenhöffer, Germany’s premier record. However, the company says Tomi Engel, a sustainable production factories in automobile expert, tells EER. He has not yet serially produced mobility expert at the German Wolfsburg. Autostadt currently says car companies in Asia and and sold a modern hybrid or section of the International runs an exhibition called “Level even the US have a head start electric car. Solar Energy Society. ‘Why Green”. On 1,000 square meters when it comes to hybrid and Volkswagen head Martin invest in new products and designed by architect Jürgen electric cars. It took Daimler, a Winterkorn said earlier this strategies when it’s simpler to Mayer-Hahn in a futuristic lime- world-leading car giant and the month his company would offer prevent laws and make money green, visitors can learn about owner of Mercedes-Benz, until its first all- (EV) with the old products? It’s up the size of their ecological late June to launch the German in 2013 – at least two years after to the government to change footprint, discover how much car industry’s first hybrid competitors in Europe, Asia and the rules so that a market can carbon dioxide emissions they vehicle, almost a decade after the US. BMW and Daimler are develop.’ According to Engel, can save per year by eating market leader Toyota introduced expected to launch all-electric the German motor vehicle

less meat (6.7 tons of CO2), or the Prius. and Smart cars in late 2011 tax needs to be altered to learn how Volkswagen tries to or early 2012. help introduce EVs. ‘With the produce cars more sustainably. Volkswagen is not out in front, current tax, you pay less for a Given that roughly 2 million either. Dudenhöffer ranks Mitsubishi launched its electric very efficient gasoline car than people visit Autostadt each BMW and Daimler ahead of vehicle, the €34,000 i-MiEV in for an EV. How can you penalize year, Level Green might even Volkswagen when it comes to July of this year. It will start someone for saving significant

make a difference. building tomorrow’s green selling in 2010. In August, Japan’s amounts of CO2?’ cars. ‘Of the world’s large car Nissan unveiled a mass-market But of course a sustainability companies, Volkswagen has battery-powered car called the Dudenhöffer agrees: ‘The exhibition at Europe’s largest the smallest offering of hybrid Leaf. The Chevrolet Volt, a plug- German government has been carmaker cannot avoid the cars and they are also behind in hybrid whose combustion too hesitant and slow when it subject of mobility. Some of the in producing an electric car,’ engine generates additional comes to supporting electric sleek-looking touch screens tell he says. electricity to power the car, is to mobility.’ He believes visitors the latest about biofuels, The German car companies be sold by early 2011. Toyota will should pour more money into soon release a plug-in version of research and development. the Prius. Its latest Prius model is Germany’s most recent selling like crazy in Asia. economic aid package includes €500 million earmarked for German consumers are R&D in sustainable mobility, similarly eager to go electric. including €115 million According to a recent poll, for eight model regions every fifth German interested which are expected to look in buying an automobile is at infrastructure systems, delaying the purchase to wait driver behaviour and the for the introduction of electric integration of the EVs into cars. That means being a year a renewable energy-based or even two years late could electricity network. hurt Germany’s car industry Not an insignificant sum, Volkswagen Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany significantly. Photos: Paul Langrock/Hollandse Hoogte but much less than the US

European Energy Review September / October 2009

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and China are investing. ‘That means we will have to ‘Electric mobility,’ says cities. BMW has announced Washington has earmarked $2 meet Germany’s ambitious Wolfgang Müller-Pietralla, who it would scrap its Formula 1 billion for the development climate protection targets heads Volkswagen’s future racing team in a bid to focus on of next-generation battery mainly through efficiency research department and is new engine technologies and technologies for EVs and funds improvements of engines in a big supporter of electric sustainability. infrastructure test projects conventional cars,’ Tobias mobility, ‘will motivate Daimler has invested $50 with an additional $400 Lösche-ter Horst, who heads engineers to even higher million in Tesla, the - million. China will soon launch Volkswagen’s propulsion efficiency levels and we will based maker of long-range test projects with more than research department, tells EER. soon see that traditional electric vehicles. It initially 10,000 EVs for a total amount ‘Of course electric mobility has engines will become more bought a stake of 10 percent in of $2 billion, and funds electric a huge potential, and we are sustainable.’ the company, but later resold mobility research with another researching that with many Both Lösche-ter Horst and 4 percent to an Abu Dhabi- $1 billion. Moreover, because resources. But it will take some Müller-Pietralla say an average based investor. Thomas Weber, of Germany’s bureaucratic time before EVs can provide consumption of 3 liters per 100 head of R&D from Daimler, system, the money spent in long-distance mobility.’ km is realistic for a compact is convinced: ‘The cards are Germany takes longer to make car with future technologies. being re-dealt now and green an impact, Dudenhöffer says. Lösche-ter Horst heads a Similar to the other car makers technologies will be trumps.’ team of 200 engineers and in Germany, Volkswagen also However, the German scientists. Half of them banks on biogas (Germany There is one problem. The government now seems to have research gasoline and diesel has an excellent biogas heart of an EV is its battery, woken up to the challenge. engines, the other half infrastructure and VW has and Germany has almost no On 19 August, it unveiled a electric mobility, hydrogen several biogas models on offer) domestic battery production strategy to reach its target of 1 fuel cells and biofuels. He says as well as biofuels that don’t or expertise. That has moved million EVs by 2020. The plan Volkswagen’s most efficient compete with food production. to Asia – Japan and China does not allocate new money, diesel cars are already better are today’s battery giants. but it includes funding pledges than the best hybrids when That doesn’t mean the likes of Nowadays, EVs are powered for battery research and it comes to greenhouse gas Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW by huge lithium-ion battery a proposal to pay buyers of EVs emissions. The Blue Motion are neglecting electric vehicles packs that are heavy, expensive up to €5,000 starting in 2012. 2 version of its Polo compact altogether. Most experts agree and some say unsafe. A battery ‘It is our aim to make Germany car, to be launched next year, that German companies are pack for an EV costs between € € into the market leader for will emit just 87 g of CO2 starting to catch up. Daimler 10,000 and 15,000 and its electric mobility,’ Economy per km – that’s less than the and BMW are about to launch range usually doesn’t extend Minister Karl-Theodor zu newest Prius. EV test trials in several German beyond 150 km. It’s clear that Guttenberg said at the plan’s presentation in Berlin. The politicians did not hesitate to remind the car makers that they had to do their part to help sustainable mobility succeed in Germany. ‘We politicians are ready to support this,’ said Wolfgang Tiefensee, the German transport minister. ‘But it is the German automobile industry that now needs to accelerate its efforts if Germany really wants to be a lead market when it comes to electric mobility.’

One million EVs sounds like a lot, but with 45 million cars on the road right now, the market share would be less than 2%. Exhibition "Level Green" at Autostadt Photo: Kai Senf

September / October 2009 European Energy Review

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there is room for significant production capability. Together improvement, and Germany with German energy company would like to participate in Evonik, it founded li-Tec, which that technology race. combines both groups’ expertise to produce lithium-ion batteries No wonder German car makers for Mercedes-Benz EVs. are scrambling to enter into cooperations with Asian battery All those recent activities giants. Volkswagen has teamed leave the German car industry up with Chinese battery and optimistic that it can get EV maker BYD. Earlier the a significant share of the company had reached a deal growing sustainable mobility with Japan's Sanyo and Toshiba. market. ‘Sometimes people BMW has teamed up with auto behave and talk as if the parts supplier Bosch and its race for the electric car is Korean partner Samsung to already over,’ Lösche-ter Horst supply lithium-ion batteries says. ‘But that’s not true. No for a future EV. Daimler is company has a big head start even trying to support the or is far behind. The race is creation of a domestic battery only beginning.’ Wolfgang Müller-Pietralla and Tobias Lösche-ter Horst. Photo: Kai Senf

Utilities team up with car makers

Germany’s energy utilities support electric mobility because they hope it will increase the demand for electricity. They are involved in several EV test projects with German car makers.

Daimler and RWE: E-mobility Berlin Energy giant RWE and Daimler have teamed up for Germany’s biggest EV test project in Berlin. It will feature 100 electric Smart cars handed out to selected customers, starting in late 2009. Daimler will at a later phase also provide Mercedes-Benz EVs. RWE plans to install some 400 electric charging stations all over the city. The company said it wants to open its charging infrastructure at a later date also for Daimler’s competitors. RWE plans to install up to 10,000 charging stations over the coming years, the company said.

BMW and Vattenfall: Mini-E powered by Vattenfall Fifty Mini-E cars have been driving through Berlin for the past weeks, in Germany’s first EV test project. Vattenfall is providing the charging stations and scientists from Technical University Chemnitz are analyzing driving patterns and grid stability. Funded by the German Environment Ministry, the project is special in a way that Vattenfall has vowed that only electricity from renewable sources will be available at its charging stations. BMW runs similar test projects in Britain and California. In February 2010, another 50 cars will join the project.

BMW and Eon: E-mobility in German energy giant Eon has built 15 charging stations for 15 Mini-E cars that have been handed out to selected drivers. The small project features test drivers who are commuting into Munich from the city’s outskirts. A fully-charged battery takes the Mini-E roughly 150 km.

Volkswagen and Eon: Fleet Test Electric Drive Volkswagen in June 2008 announced a fleet test of its plug-in hybrid Golf Twin Drive. So far, only 2 vehicles have actually made it onto the roads in and around Berlin. More cars are to be added until the end of the year, but Volkswagen has given no details. The company initially said last year it wanted to test up to 20 vehicles. Eon was due to provide the electrical refueling stations.

European Energy Review September / October 2009

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