Electric mobility must be experienced and networked
VDA on opening of Efficiency House PLUS with Electromobility
Berlin, 7 December 2011. "Electric mobility is a key component for sustainable individual mobility in the future. If it is to be a success it must suit everyday use and be something that customers can experience. The Efficiency House makes a valuable contribution to this by explaining to the occupants and visitors about electrically powered driving and the use of an electric ‘filling station’ at home delivering electricity they generate themselves,” stressed Dr Kay Lindemann, Deputy Managing Director of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). He was speaking at the opening of the "Efficiency House PLUS with Electromobility” in Berlin. The Efficiency House is a project of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS). It produces more energy than it consumes, and the excess electricity is fed into the electric vehicles driven by the occupiers. For three months at a time, the test family will have at their disposal an Audi A1 e-tron, a BMW ActiveE, a smartfortwo electric drive, an A-Class E-Cell, an Opel Ampera and a Volkswagen Golf Blue-e-motion.
"The user studies of the VDA’s member companies show that most customers charge their electric cars either at home or at work,” Lindemann said. "It is therefore important to install standardised charging points rapidly not only in public places, but also in private locations.” In the coming years a large proportion of electric charging points will be set up on private and commercial premises.
"Electric mobility is a genuine cross-sectoral task. It will not be realised either by sprinting or by going it alone. The challenge is to find a sustainable and economically competitive solution which satisfies our customers’ demands,” Lindemann explained. To this end, he added, concerted efforts were required from all branches of industry involved. This had already been shown in an impressive manner in the Hall of Electric Mobility at this year’s 64th IAA Cars. It housed 95 exhibitors ranging from energy companies and chemical firms to universities and IT service providers, not least including companies from the automotive industry, who demonstrated the drive for innovation in German industry all along the value-added chain. Lindemann said, "The Efficiency House shows once again just what smart co-operation between politicians, academia and business can achieve.”
Lindemann added that electric mobility could also help in expanding the use of renewable energies. The best use of electricity from renewable sources would be possible only if there were sufficient storage capacities, he continued. "Electric mobility can help here because vehicle batteries offer a large amount of storage. For example, in the Efficiency House excess energy is stored in the batteries of electric cars and made available when needed. The target of one million electric vehicles in the year 2020 would offer a usable storage option corresponding to around 6 per cent of the total current capacity of the German pumped storage power plants (40 GWh).”
