The car of the future – the golden age of mobility is just around the corner?
A vision of the future
Connectivity, autonomous driving, shared mobility, and electrification are clearly seen as the most significant future automotive trends. A high-level manager in the automotive industry outlines his view of the future of mobility as follows: “The mobility sector and the automotive industry are currently undergoing the most radical transformation in history. The emerging new ideal of climate-neutral, self-driving mobility is gradually becoming a reality – both in megacities and in rural areas. This gives humanity completely new freedoms. In the future, we will be able to use the time we spend in the car in a more diverse way for social contacts, entertainment, and relaxation. This will turn the car into a kind of time machine. We will then be able to integrate mobility into everyday life in a completely different way – bringing benefits for society and the individual. The “golden age of mobility” is just around the corner!”
The fight against emissions
This stands in opposition to the harsh reality that carbon dioxide emissions from the German transport sector have remained almost unchanged over the past 30 years, despite more energy-efficient drive technologies and exhaust gas purification. To achieve the German government’s climate protection targets, 15 million electric passenger cars must be put on Germany’s roads by 2030. In their efforts to at least slow down climate change, political leaders are setting themselves ever more ambitious targets. The EU wants to become climate-neutral by 2050 and has significantly tightened the interim targets by 2030. Germany wants to achieve climate neutrality as early as 2045. And cities such as Stockholm and Vienna or German states such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have even planned to do so by 2040. The major European vehicle manufacturers, including the supplier industry, are behind these targets and are determined to make a decisive contribution to reducing emissions in transportation.
The automotive industry as a role model ?
Audi, for example, undercut its 2021 CO2 fleet targets by more than would have been legally permissible. The target value was 129 g/km, which would have been legally permissible. 129 g/km was the target value, 122 g/km has been achieved in practice. Irrespective of this, many manufacturers have committed themselves to meeting climate targets:
BMW, for example, wants to meet the 1.5 degree climate target and be completely climate neutral by 2050. Volvo wants to have achieved this by 2040, and Porsche is aiming for balance sheet CO2 neutrality by 2030. Many experts even see an opportunity for the industry to become a role model in terms of environmental friendliness.
The end for the combustion engine in Europe
The die is cast. On June 8, a majority of the members of the European Parliament took away the future prospects of the internal combustion engine. From 2035, CO2 emissions from new cars are to be reduced to zero. This means that the EU Parliament is also showing the red card to e-fuels; passenger cars and light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 t will only drive electrically in the future, should the Parliament prevail in the upcoming negotiations with the member states. The dimension of the intended paradigm shift is enormous: On January 1, 2022, there were still around 31 million internal combustion vehicles on Germany’s roads – in contrast, the number of electric cars in this country has not yet exceeded the million mark.
But one thing is also clear: To ensure that these climate targets are not just on paper, but also achievable, all those involved must now pick up speed.
Further development of the recycling of components and systems of battery electric vehicles as well as innovative charging technologies is indispensable for a long-term sustainable recycling economy – keyword resource availability. In addition, bidirectional charging and the use of e-vehicles as energy storage systems will make an important contribution to sector and grid coupling within the electricity grids.
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