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Electro mobility in Germany from May 4th
What DWV expects from the summit with the Federal Chancellor
On May 3rd many high-ranking experts from politics, industry, and science will discuss the creation of a national platform for electro mobility with the Federal Chancellor. The expectations to the meeting are high considering the importance of mobility for economy and environment.
The German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association supports the initiative emphatically because the objectives of the association as well have a lot to do with sustainable mobility. Using hydrogen as fuel will be one of its first important applications in the energy sector.
A crucial factor for the success of the summit will be that the participants cover the whole spectrum of mobility. There is a common impression that „electro mobility“ for many people just means battery vehicles, i. e. small city cars of limited range. This can cover only a certain part of the demand.
If we want an electric vehicle with a range of 400 km or more which is filled up in three minutes (not hours) and can carry the whole family plus holiday luggage there is no way around the fuel cell with hydrogen tank. This holds even more for utility vehicles like city buses. Apart from a few niche applications the combination of battery and fuel cell offers the greatest value for the customer and the environment.
Consider also that Germany is among the top players in the world in terms of fuel cells while with batteries only we would soon depend from imports again as in the case of oil and gas. So hydrogen and fuel cells are just as indispensable for electro mobility as the battery.
Mobility is also a part of the energy problem. Transport is an important energy consumer and emitter of greenhouse gases. Power from a battery can only be as clean as the primary energy you make it from. The same holds for hydrogen. Electro mobility can only really help if it comes together with a further enhancement of the role of renewable primary energies. Hydrogen has a much higher potential than batteries to store excess amounts of renewable primary energy for meaningful use at a later time.
When the summit participants consider these facts it will contribute to the success we all wish it in the interest of future generations.
Published by the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV), Berlin
Editor: Dr. Ulrich Schmidtchen, Berlin
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