Wissing holds car manufacturers accountable for e-mobility

Before the car summit, Transport Minister Wissing is calling on the industry to make its contribution to the expansion of e-mobility. The topic of the meeting will be how to achieve 15 million electric cars by 2030.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) sees the industry as having a duty to expand electromobility. “To do this, we need a committed automotive industry that pulls together with us and, in addition to delivering electric vehicles, also contributes to the forward-looking expansion of the charging infrastructure,” Wissing told the “Handelsblatt”. Politics and business must work together to make e-mobility attractive and commonplace for people.

Wissing pointed out that politicians are working intensively to make more progress in e-mobility and are pushing forward the expansion of the charging infrastructure. “There are currently around 100,000 publicly accessible charging points in operation in Germany. That is twice as many as two years ago,” said Wissing. The total available charging power has also increased from two to 4.3 gigawatts.

“We started building the German network with around 9,000 new ultra-fast charging points in September. The first new location will open in December,” said the minister.

Consultations with the automotive industry in the Chancellery

At the “car summit” in the Federal Chancellery today, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to discuss the expansion of electromobility with the automotive industry. Representatives from manufacturers and suppliers, unions and works councils as well as from the energy industry, science and environmental associations are expected at the top meeting. The topics of the exchange will be how to achieve the goal of 15 million electric cars by 2030 and how to support a further market ramp-up of battery-powered models.

Unlike previous “mobility summits”, it is explicitly about the automotive industry and, above all, about e-mobility, such as the production of cheaper electric cars and the expansion of the charging infrastructure. That’s why company representatives from other industries such as battery cell producers and chip manufacturers also take part.

Alliance for Mobility transition calls for new and different funding

Before the summit, the “Alliance for Socially Acceptable Mobility Transition” called for new and changed funding for electric cars. The capping of purchase premiums for electric vehicles has led to a collapse in registration numbers, according to a position paper published on Sunday by the association, which includes trade unions, social and environmental associations and the Evangelical Church in Germany.

The federal government should make additional adjustments here, but at the same time align the funding instruments with social and ecological criteria, it goes on to say. The paper specifically proposes a CO2-oriented adjustment to company car taxation and vehicle tax.

The organizations involved in the alliance complain that sales of electrically powered vehicles from German manufacturers in particular are stalling. Due to the often high prices, they are not affordable for the majority of people. There are currently over a million purely electric cars registered in Germany – out of a total of more than 48 million cars.