FAQ

No, in the foreseeable future, the energy for driving will be coming from modern combustion engines. Diesel and spark ignition engines still have the potential for fuel consumption reductions of up to 25%.

Standardizing electric mobility is being undertaken by several standardization organizations on the national, European and global level.

There are supposed to be one million electric vehicles on Germany's roads by 2020.

Which materials and construction techniques will be used in electric mobility in the future will depend on vehicle specific requirements (vehicle size and design, motorization and configuration, price level) and the development potential of the materials.

For electric mobility to become affordable for everyone, the cost of electric drive systems needs to be reduced significantly

High-performance batteries are the key component of both stationary as well as mobile electric applications.

Safety issues are key to a wider adoption of electric mobility.

Electric vehicles still have room for improvement in two areas in particular: initial cost and range.

Especially when they drive slowly, electric vehicles are quieter than cars with combustion engines.

Generally, the battery that is purchased along with an electric vehicle should last for the average lifespan of a car.

Electric vehicles can be charged wirelessly as well.

Purchasing an electric vehicle isn't cheap. The additional cost of buying an electric car instead of a conventional one primarily comes from the battery.

Even today, there is a network of more than 5500 publicly accessible charging stations in Germany, which continues to expand.

Depending on the model, purely electrically driven vehicles currently have a range of between 150 and 250 kilometers, some even more. The exact figure depends on the driving style of the user as well as the environmental conditions.

80 percent of the people living in Germany travel no more than 39 kilometers per day by car.

The transition from combustion engines to electric mobility does not just require the development of a suitable infrastructure, high-performance battery systems or new vehicle concepts.

In April 2016 the federal government and the automotive industry agreed to subsidize the sale of new electric cars with an environmental bonus.

The international competitive pressure is enormous – electric mobility is being subsidized in many markets throughout the world.

The future of electricity is renewable. More and more fluctuating sources like wind and solar energy are being fed into the power grid.

Specific investigations into the recyclability of e-vehicles are difficult in the current phase of market preparation.

To a certain degree, electric vehicles and their components require raw materials, which are in limited supply.

Being locally emissions-free is a clear advantage of electric vehicles but the carbon footprint over the entire energy chain depends on the emissions related to generating the electricity – obviously that is also true of all other propulsion technologies and energy sources such as natural gas, diesel or gas /petrol.

The best way to assess the efficiency of propulsion systems is engine efficiency, which states how large a percentage of the primary energy is transformed into motion.

As an economic factor and a driver of growth electric mobility is having an enduring impact on our industrialized society through innovative products and services, which are also in demand globally.

According to new research, 80% of all car trips do not exceed 20 km. Therefore, the range offered by purely electric vehicles available today – approximately 150 km – is sufficient for most trips.

The growing use of electric mobility reduces noise and pollution on the roads, supports climate protection and advances the German energy transition (Energiewende).

Does electric mobility mean the end of the combustion engine is near?

Today, there are almost 1 billion motor vehicles worldwide, 700 million of them cars. According to current projections, this number is expected to double no later than 2030.

Electric mobility, according to the definition of the German government and the National Development Plan for Electric Mobility (NEP) comprises all street vehicles that are powered by an electric motor and primarily get their energy from the power grid – in other words: can be recharged externally.