German politicians should clearly commit to e-mobility – Audi CEO

Audi boss Markus Duesmann is calling for a clear political commitment to electric cars from German politicians, Welt am Sonntag reports. Instead of building a hydrogen infrastructure and expanding e-cara charging infrastructure at the same time, politicians should pool resources, the head of the Volkswagen subsidiary says. "If one country promotes hydrogen, another e-fuels and a third battery-electric vehicles, that doesn't make the transition any easier,” Duesmann told the paper. “We can only master this future task together and with very focused investments.” With this stance, Audi is somewhat at odds with the German government’s strategy, which foresees investments in projects that support hydrogen-powered cars and the development of synthetic fuels alongside investments in electric mobility, the article says.

Earlier this year, Audi announced plans to set up its own charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The company aims to have at least 30 percent of its cars sold in Europe to be electric by 2025 and fears that the public charging infrastructure might not be sufficient. A lack of charging infrastructure is often seen as a bottleneck for the rollout of millions of e-cars over the next decade. E-car sales have picked up significantly thanks to national support programmes in recent months. Earlier this month, the German parliament passed a law that will allow the expansion of fast-charging infrastructure by 1,000 additional fast-charging hubs throughout the country, starting this summer.