German automotive industry embraces e-car, but . . .

MUNICH, Germany — After a phase of lethargy that lasted several years, large parts of the German automotive industry are now setting the course for hybrid and all-electric drive schemes. The bad news: The worst is far from being over for the industry.

At the Handelsblatt Automotive congress in Munich (July 3), representatives from OEMs and tier ones rushed to commit to almost all types of alternative drives and fuels. After all, critics have said for years that the European automotive industry, and in particular the Germans, overslept the trend towards Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs).

At the high-level meeting, the new buzzword was 'sustainability' in all conceivable manners. "In the future, the zero-emission vehicle will be the basis for our business model," said Bernhard Mattes, vice president of Ford of Europe's Customer Service Division. Similar statements came from Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and from Karl-Thomas Neumann, CEO of tier one Continental AG.

Bernd Bohr, general manager of the vehicle technology business segment at automotive supplier Bosch group, delivered a more differentiated commitment that could be summarized by the words "yes, but…". Notably not a commitment to own development of electric drive technology came from Manfred Kantner, CEO of Fiat Germany.

Hurdles for the electrification are many. All experts agreed that a number of required technologies for the changeover towards electric power trains have by far not reached market maturity. In particular, under aspects of reliability, affordability, safety (in the case of the batteries) and range (in the case of all-electric vehicles), future electric power train components and electric vehicles are not competitive against conventional cars. The development for these components including related control electronics will take another couple of years, and conventional drives will dominate the market for at least two to three model generations.

For the long time until electric cars and HEV eventually will find acceptance of the masses, the industry sees a high potential to improve fuel efficiency and emission characteristics for conventional drives.

Fiat, for instance, is preparing an engine with an innovative fuel-mixture generation, Kantner said. The technology, dubbed MultiAir will be introduced at the IAA 2009 automotive exposition in September. By such measures as electronic individual valve control and electro-hydraulic valve drives, Fiat promises to significantly improve the combustion process, leading to reductions in fuel consumption by up to 25 percent.