IAA impression a visitors view: For a decade now, all kinds of...

IAA impression a visitors view: For a decade now, all kinds of electrified cars have been on display at the IAA, and prototypes have often been the exception. By 2019, almost all suppliers had brought series production models with them, and the CO2 targets leave hardly any choice.My favourite saying at this year's IAA comes from Tübingen's Lord Mayor Boris Palmer: "Smear that in your hair, I'm not digging all over Tübingen so you can get your charging stations". Now Boris Palmer made this statement in connection with SUVs in the city, which are no solution for the future, since there are not enough power lines for the necessary charging stations, oh so.
There is a lack of alternative transport services
The causality of his utterances is liberal, but one thing is true: Infrastructure is still a problem. The automotive industry is often criticised for this, although the development of public infrastructure is not its responsibility. What is stopping politics? Doesn't it want to dig around to avoid trouble, or does it even have doubts about the sense of electric cars in the city itself? I find it absolutely plausible to want fewer cars in the city, whether electrified or not. What's missing are alternative transport options.

But back to the electrification of individual mobiles, which is not only about battery electric vehicles: according to official diction, the term also refers to any form of hybridization. No manufacturer doubts the necessity of electrification, the reason is simple: from 2021, 95 euros per gram of CO2 per vehicle will be too much for the fleet. The objective for the automotive industry is therefore to offer a mix of solutions with different levels of electrification, which of course must also make sense for the individual motorist.Serious announcementsWhen considered soberly, the IAA has never seen as many electrified production vehicles as this year. And there will be more. BMW, for example, wants to have a good 25 electrified models on offer by 2023. At Ford, electrified vehicles should account for at least half of the total by the end of 2022. The statements must be taken seriously, as these vehicles have generally long been on the way in terms of development. These can be 48-volt and high-voltage hybrids as well as battery-electric vehicles.
The agony of this choice is unavoidable because different drives and energy sources can be used and combined.The German Association of the Automotive Industry is of the opinion that electrification can only make sense if the possibilities are handled flexibly. The solutions should be "open to technology" in order to be able to grow evolutionarily with the possibilities. This also includes the possibility not to rely exclusively on batteries, but to consider any energy source that is CO2-neutral. In this sense, hybrid drives also reflect the hybrid availability of energy.
E-Fuels help to turn energy aroundFuture so-called E-Fuels may have a modest degree of efficiency in production. But they are also a stable energy store - and the greater the proportion of renewable energy, the greater the need for one. Partly inefficient shadow power plants to secure the so-called energy turnaround cannot be a permanent solution.The IAA 2019, whether you like it or not, is a reflection of the current possibilities and risks. It certainly does not answer how much electrification will be the right measure in the future or whether some drive concepts with different applications will exist side by side.Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator