Full speed ahead into the age of electromobility

In 2020, car sales have fallen drastically at almost all automakers. This means that many jobs are at stake. To help Germany's most important industry get off the ground, purchase premiums have been the subject of intense discussion. A highly controversial topic. That's why we talked about it with Prof. Dr. Markus Lienkamp, Professor of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Munich. He explains why he has always considered purchase premiums to be of little use and what the solution looks like in his opinion.

Dr. Lienkamp, please tell us briefly about your activities at the Technical University of Munich and how the collaboration between Bayern Innovativ and you came about.

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: We have always been in contact with Bayern Innovativ in order to expand our network, initiate joint projects and promote knowledge exchange. So one day we came up with the idea to organize the conference Conference on Future Automotive Technology (CoFAT) to invite Bavarian industry and science to discuss innovations.

It sounds quite like CoFAT is a kind of door opener to a vibrant innovation community for e-mobility. Is there a personal highlight that you associate with CoFAT?

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: The highlights were that high-profile personalities were usually present. For example, last year from politics Hubert Aiwanger. We also had representatives from the business world as guests - board members such as Mr. Breitfeld or Mr. Ziebert. High-ranking representatives of science, such as our president of the Technical University of Munich or colleagues from RWTH Aachen, were also present. At the same time, we also repeatedly presented interesting companies, especially innovative start-ups and their topics in pitch sessions. Through these sessions, we helped them find investors, partners and clients. I think that was always a very fruitful event for all participants.

Now back to your activities: You've written a new book. Why? And about what?

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: Yes, why? In the Corona period, we all had more time than usual due to the lockdown. That's when I started thinking about writing a book again. I was intrigued by the idea of considering what impact the Corona crisis actually had on the automotive industry . So the book is back to "my" topic electromobility , with digressions on autonomous driving and mobility. But in essence, the book pursues the questions, "Is electromobility going anywhere? How does it go on? Or what might be the alternatives?"

Is e-mobility really the only way? As you said, there is a lot of discussion, especially in Bavaria, about other forms of drive?

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: That was the key question that I wanted to answer at the beginning of the book, because for some years now - also in Germany - a very prominent and emotional discussion is underway, which is actually the right drive technologies for the future. In our research for the book, we excluded the topic of fossil fuels for internal combustion engines. The book focuses on the year 2030, by which time the question will have arisen as to which is the right drive technology and which is the right fuel. And if you take the CO2 issue seriously, fossil fuels are out of the question for me, so that leaves only three options.

One is electromobility, the second is hydrogen . And the third option we are talking about is the synthetic fuels or e-fuels that can be used in conventional internal combustion engines. Those are the only three options that we have available for 2030 as things stand. To do this, we have analyzed very precisely the CO2 emissions of these different variants - there are no major differences here. The electric car is a little bit worse there, because the production of batteries is relatively energy-intensive, but it is somewhat cheaper to operate. The other two options can be realized, just as completely CO2 or largely CO2 free.

Next, we examined how much primary energy must be used. The primary energy is of course a measure of how much renewable energy is needed, so how much new solar plants, wind turbines must be built for this. And from that, of course, it's then very easy to derive the likely costs. When analyzing the primary energy demand, we find that the electric car has massive advantages here because its efficiency is very high, around 80 percent. In comparison, the e-fuels and hydrogen drop off very sharply because the energy conversion chains are extremely inefficient and the efficiency drops very sharply as a result.

If you now analyze this economically, you find that in 2030 only the electric car will actually still be profitable. The e-fuels - or hydrogen, if applicable - only come into consideration if one drives a very low annual mileage of about 5,000 to 8,000 km and then simultaneously covers very long distances. That would therefore be the classic application scenario for a motor home. As soon as one drives over 10,000 km per year, only the electric car is worthwhile.

Why then do you not support a purchase premium for e-cars?

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: Of course, that sounds illogical at first. On the one hand, to say we need many more electric cars , on the other hand, to say we don't want purchase premiums. But money can only be spent once. If we spend the money on purchase premiums, then unfortunately not a single electric car will be sold as a result.

We have CO2 legislation in Europe that is now currently at 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer and will be lowered to 60 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2030. You can only meet that if you "sell" a certain percentage of electric cars to go with it. That means every car manufacturer has to sell about 30 percent electric cars by 2030 anyway. And if it fails to do so, it will have to accept drastic penalties. If that is to be avoided, manufacturers will have no choice but to make internal combustion engines more expensive and electric vehicles less expensive. That's what's happening anyway.

But what's not happening right now is the removal of the stumbling blocks that are currently preventing electromobility. Essentially, from my perspective, that's the charging infrastructure issue. And that's why I would rather invest the money, which can only be spent once, in the charging infrastructure than simply subsidize electric cars.

What advice would you give Bavarian automakers and suppliers at the end of our interview?

Prof. Dr. Lienkamp: Of course, suppliers depend very much on the automotive industry and depend on what specifications the OEMs make. I can only give the automotive industry the hint that sustainability will be much more important in the future. People have now possibly seen for the first time how nice it is when it is quiet for a change, when there are no airplanes flying, when traffic noise subsides, when cities also no longer stink so

I hope that everyone understands that electromobility is the only affordable option in the passenger car sector for realizing sustainability and environmental friendliness. I would be delighted if we were now to follow this path consistently.

The interview was conducted by Dr. Kord Pannkoke, Head of Business Development at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.

Listen to the full interview as a podcast: