Electric Mobility

Charge it up, please! Electric vehicles refuel at charging points. There are already about 1,500 such vehicles operating on German roads. And this is just the beginning. By 2020, we want to have at least one million electric vehicles operating on German roads. They are quiet and do not emit climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2) . Also: Our planet’s fossil fuels are finite. This, too, is a reason why we have to find alternative fuels to petrol or diesel, which are both produced from fossil fuels.

Mobility from a socket

The Federal Government, together with industry, is making available two billion euros to promote research on how we can maintain our mobility in the future despite scarce fossil fuels. For this reason they jointly created the „National Platform for Electric Mobility“ in May. The Platform addresses issues such as apprenticeships and jobs in the field of electric mobility or the setting up of a suitable recharging infrastructure.

The Federal Ministry of Transport has launched pilot projects in eight cities and regions. The citizens of Berlin can already rent cars with an electric drive at major stations and test drive them. The city of Stuttgart operates hybrid buses, which have an electric motor in addition to a diesel engine. The Federal Government is providing a total of 130 million euros from the Second Economic Stimulus Package to promote more than 200 projects nationwide. Policy-makers, industry, academia and local authorities all work hand in hand.

Constantly on the go – but in a sustainable way please!

The development of fuel cell vehicles, powered by hydrogen, is just as important as research into electric cell vehicles. The „National Programme of Innovation for hydrogen and fuel cell technology” will have provided around 1.4 billion euros public and private capital by the year 2016 to academia and industry for thorough research in hydrogen and fuel cell projects. Already there is a fuel cell powered forklift operating in the port of Hamburg. The National Organization for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) manages the programme. It ensures that Germany strengthens its leading position in Europe in the field of alternative mobility and becomes the leading market for electric mobility. The research funds are thus not only an investment in a clean environment but also in creating jobs in Germany with a promising future.