5/26/2009

Launching the Bavarian State Government’s ‘Future Electromobility Offensive’

MUNICH/ NUREMBERG     In Nuremberg, Martin Zeil, Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Wolfgang Heubisch, Minister of Science and Markus Söder, Minister for the Environment, met to talk with representatives from AUDI, BMW, VDA, ADAC, E.ON and Linde, together with recognised scientists, about future automobile technologies. The expert discussion marked the start of the Bavarian State Government’s ‘Future Electromobility Offensive’. “With its excellently positioned automobile manufacturers and suppliers, Bavaria has always been, and still is, a pacesetter for innovations in automobile manufacture. Today’s talks have confirmed my impression that we can and will maintain our top position with regard to the development of alternative drives both now and in future”, said Zeil.

Central topics of the expert discussion were electromobility and hydrogen technology. The development of hydrogen technology would continue to require great efforts on the part of all those involved in the fields of research, industry and politics, as well as basic research, the Minister said. “To be able to use electric drives more efficiently, we are particularly going to need to develop energy storage units with an improved performance. The Bavarian State Government is organising congresses and forums as part of its ‘Future Electromobility Offensive’ in order to raise and promulgate the standard of knowledge”, Zeil explained. The Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Systems and Device Technology in Erlangen is extending its electromobility activities. “We are setting up a new five-million-Euro funding scheme to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to develop innovations in the field of electromobility, especially in Bavaria”, the Economics Minister added.

Bavaria’s Environmental Minister Söder saw electromobility as a great chance for the protection of the climate: “Bavaria has the potential to become Germany’s No. 1 electromobility state and to serve as a model worldwide.” The use of this environmentally friendly technology could help to harmonise the protection of the climate and mobility. “We need electromobility, especially in the cities. Less noise and better air will improve the quality of life”, Söder said. So the aim was clear: by 2020, 20 percent of the electric vehicles registered in Germany would be driving on Bavaria’s roads. This called for bold visions and research cooperations developed jointly by politicians, people from the automotive industry and scientists.

Science Minister Heubisch emphasised the commitment and competence of Bavarian universities as partners of automobile manufacturers in research and development: “A particular field of expertise of our universities is energy storage and battery technology. Moreover, they are helping to qualify the next generation for the automobile industry.”

Source: Invest in Bavaria

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