Advisory body to the German government sees acute need for action in the transport sector.
According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 48 million passenger cars are registered in Germany, 309,000 of which are pure electric cars. Their share is rising, with a 58 percent increase in new registrations compared to the same month last year. The National Platform for the Future of Mobility (NPM), an advisory body to the German government, nevertheless sees an acute need for action to make the transport sector more environmentally friendly. In its final report presented on Wednesday, it talks of 14 million electric vehicles that would have to be on the road in Germany by 2030 in order to implement climate protection targets in the transport sector.
With regard to drive types, the NPM advocates a mix of technologies. For example, the battery-electric drive for passenger cars is the most advanced solution to date; for commercial vehicles, the focus should be on one of the technologies tested to date (fuel cell, overhead line, battery) from 2025. At the same time, the expansion of renewable energies must be accelerated in order to be able to provide sufficient sustainable electricity for the vehicles. Support would also have to come from politics to create the necessary framework conditions and promote research and development, but also to establish completely new value chains. In addition to lithium for batteries, rare earths such as neodymium are also needed for electromobility. Germany is heavily dependent on imports here.
Photo: iStock/Adam Vradenburg
