Mobility transition more challenging for government than Energiewende

Germany’s mobility transition is a matter for Chancellor Angela Merkel, as it will be more challenging politically than the country’s Energiewende, writes Christian Hochfeld, head of mobility think tank Agora Verkehrswende*, in a guest commentary in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. It means that people will have to say farewell to certain daily routines. Hochfeld writes that electric cars will play a big role in the transition, because the only clean energy source sufficiently available to still guarantee mobility in Germany is electricity from renewable sources. Producing synthetic fuels, on the other hand, would require a lot of additional energy. An upcoming study by the think tank shows that, compared to a petrol car, an e-car offsets the climate disadvantage from its production after about 60,000 kilometres if renewable sources in Germany’s power mix increase as planned by the government, writes Hochfeld. He adds that with the country’s current power mix, Germany would not be the first choice for battery cell production in Europe – in regard to climate action – as the production is very energy-intensive, he adds.
The government announced in November the target of covering 30 percent of global battery cell demand with production in Germany and Europe by 2030. Most German companies, including the nation’s carmakers, have so far shied away from the necessary investments worth billions of euros needed to launch large-scale battery cell production, but politicians are calling for it.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Verkehrswende is funded by the Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.