Vehicles with alternative drivetrains are essential for sustainable mobility, which causes less and less greenhouse gas emissions. The International manufacturers are relying on the entire spectrum of low-emission technologies for this purpose. But electric mobility in particular will play a decisive role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the medium term.

Electric cars are defined in the German Electric Mobility Act. The law considers pure battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. A pure battery electric vehicle is a motor vehicle that is powered exclusively by an electric motor and has an energy storage device (battery) that can be recharged from the outside. Plug-in hybrids are motor vehicles that have both an electric motor and a combustion engine and also have an externally rechargeable battery. Fuel cell vehicles are also electric vehicles according to the definition of the law. However, they differ significantly from battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids because as energy carriers they do not charge electricity but refuel with hydrogen.

Modern electric vehicles generally draw their energy from lithium-ion batteries. Compared to nickel-metal hydride batteries, these batteries provide a longer range and a longer service life. In addition, they weigh significantly less than previous battery generations. Another advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they have virtually no memory effect. After repeated incomplete charging processes, this phenomenon leads to a gradual reduction in charging capacity. This means that lithium-ion batteries retain a high charge capacity throughout their planned life cycle.

Another important advantage of the electric drive is its particularly high energy efficiency of up to 90 percent. An average modern passenger car internal combustion engine achieves efficiencies of around 30 percent. Moreover, purely electric vehicles do not require a gearbox – due to the constantly high torque. This saves weight, costs and installation space.

Electric mobility is a key technology for achieving the ambitious climate targets in transport. The rapid development of electric mobility in Germany is also of crucial importance from a pan-European perspective. So far, however, the momentum has not been sufficient. Electric vehicles should therefore be promoted further or even more intensively as part of an overall concept.