Latest on the subject of E-Mobility at the IAA in Frankfurt
12.10.2011
The 64th International Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) took place between September 15th and 25th 2011. The theme for this year's show was "Future comes as standard". The IAA is the leading international trade fair for mobility and goes back 110 years. This year saw the unveiling of more than 90 world premieres and design concepts. The Division Battery Charging Systems was also present as visitor in order to gather further information about the topic electromobility and to create more contacts to the branch.
As usual, most of the innovations and concept cars boasted unnecessarily large internal combustion engines, although in some new vehicles these had been replaced by modern electric motors. An unprecedented display of E-mobility was on display at the IAA and stole the show from the main E-mobility trade fairs, the eCarTec in Munich and Paris. The eCarTec in Munich had a great deal on the subject of electric vehicles, but the automobile manufacturers themselves were nowhere to be seen. Quite the opposite at the IAA, where the manufacturers showed off their models on their own stands rather than in the dedicated E-mobility hall. At the IAA, electric and hybrid vehicles were included as part of the latest mobility offerings.
The impression from the IAA was that the range extender will give pure E-mobility a big push. The vehicles have electric-only ranges of between 30 and 80 km, which cover 80% of an individual's current mobility requirements. The additional range extender covers the remaining 20% required for longer journeys.
Another aspect of the future of E-mobility was on display at eCarTec 2010. Countless manufacturers of charging stations were falling over themselves at the fair. Anyone who made switch cabinets or billing systems had their own charging station for public spaces. The IAA marked the end of this trend. The general feeling is that the charging station will not be the solution for the charging of electric vehicles. Experts believe that it is far too expensive to purchase and install in public spaces. The stations are also believed to be unprofitable and too complex (for the billing of a few cents of charging current) - a position shared by everyone at IAA 2011.
The impression from the IAA is that private AC wallboxes together with a few public DC rapid charging stations could be a viable way of providing wide area coverage.
The IAA demonstrated that the automobile industry is taking E-mobility very seriously. A possible change in the mentality of car drivers from one of "possession" to "mobility" is noticeable. Whereas one might earlier have said, "I'm buying a car", the trend is now towards, "I'm buying a way of getting around". However, business models that make E-mobility affordable for everyone were not evident at the IAA. The automobile manufacturers, energy providers and the electrical engineering industry still have to sit down at the table to think about synergies that go well beyond the desire of the individual for individual mobility. E-mobility remains an exciting area and there remains a great deal to do before you can move on in a resource-saving way.
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