A million electric cars on Germany’s roads by 2020 – this is the ambitious target set by the Federal Government in its bid to continue the battle against climate-destroying CO2 emissions. It believes that ‘e-mobility’ is a key technology to create a sustainable transport system for the future, especially where the power is produced from renewable energy sources.
Yet e-mobility is still in its infancy: it is estimated that there are only around 1,500 electrically powered vehicles on Germany’s roads today. That is why all those involved – policy-makers, industrialists and scientists – are working flat out to resolve all the outstanding issues. A great deal more development work is required before electric cars are fully ready for the market and before consumers will accept them.
Lithium ion batteries replace the fuel tank in an electric car. Intensive research is under way to improve these. In a statement, industry policy-makers said: “Our aim is to reduce the cost of the batteries since it is the battery that continues to be the most expensive component inside an electric car.”
The Ministry of Transport requires that the energy density of batteries – i.e. the charging capacity measured against the volume – be increased even further. At present a battery stores much less energy than is produced by a full tank of petrol or diesel. This means that an electric car has a much shorter range than a car with a combustion engine.
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