Electromobility: Why Many People Have Reservations

Environmentally friendly driving took center stage at the Innovation Reception of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Upper Franconia

Safe, relaxed, and climate-neutral: This is how Hans-Peter Kleebinder envisions the mobility of the future. Kleebinder is the ultimate insider: having been the Chief Marketing Officer at Audi and responsible for the Social Media department, he now teaches at the Universities of Berlin and St. Gallen. For him, electric mobility is initially just a transitional solution. But what a solution it is: Together with autonomous driving and other achievements of New Mobility, people will live healthier in the future, cities are expected to become more livable, accidents with personal injury will decrease by 90 percent, and the car is intended to become a living space, a sanctuary, an oasis of well-being.

The era of the car as a status symbol in front of the house is over

At the Innovation Reception of the specially established committee of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Upper Franconia Bayreuth, Kleebinder presented his visions of future mobility, also making it clear that some will have to part with beloved habits. "The times when the car stood as a status symbol in front of the house are slowly but surely coming to an end," says Kleebinder, who also works as a future coach. Ride-sharing services, car sharing, FlixBus, all these forms of mobility clearly show that owning a car is becoming more and more unnecessary. According to the speaker, a car is only in use 93 percent of the time, which he considers "an insane waste of resources." Kleebinder described mobility as one of the basic needs of humans. The whole world is becoming more mobile, yet mobility is increasingly restricted, for example, by the planned diesel driving bans in some German cities. Electric mobility could be the solution. However, despite all the positive forecasts, electric vehicles have not yet gained widespread acceptance. "The German buyer does not want electric cars because he is satisfied with what he has," says IHK Vice President Michael Möschel, who is also the Managing Director of the Verkehrsakademie Kulmbach. He promised that the Chamber will support the many Upper Franconian automotive suppliers in transitioning to new technologies with consultants and networks.

All in the mind

For Robert Martin, Managing Director of the Climate and Energy Agency Bamberg, electric mobility is a matter of mindset. Most drivers are afraid of the relatively limited range, but this fear needs to be alleviated. Most people drive hardly more than 200 kilometers per day, which is now easily achievable with electric cars. The car-sharing fleet of the Climate Alliance currently consists of 14 vehicles but is expected to be expanded next year. One advocate for electric mobility is Professor Michael Danzer, head of the new Chair of Electrical Energy Systems at the University of Bayreuth. Batteries need to become safer, more sustainable, and smarter for electric mobility to succeed. This is also the focus of physicists, chemists, engineers, and computer scientists at the new interdisciplinary Battery Technology Research and Development Center at the University of Bayreuth.

Promoting electric mobility

Mario Münch, Managing Director of Münch Energie in Rugendorf, who describes it as the most energy-cost-efficient industrial site in Germany, tirelessly promotes electric mobility. Münch charges his Tesla with self-produced electricity from renewable sources. Comparing it to gasoline for combustion engines, the liter costs him only 14 cents. Prior to this, IHK President Sonja Weigand highlighted the many opportunities associated with electric mobility for Upper Franconia. "We want to be perceived not only as a cultural and culinary region but also as an innovation region," said Weigand. (Stephan H. Fuchs)