Automotive and Electric Mobility

The automotive industry and its suppliers are facing major upheavals. Investment decisions are now being made that will be difficult or impossible to correct later. This study is an answer to the question of whether the European Union and the automotive industry have set the right course. Unfortunately, the answer is that neither the environmental targets nor the social requirementsare going to be met.

The EU favours electric cars via environmental regulation, public procurement, incentives, provision of charging infrastructures, and identification of batteries as a strategic value chain

>> EU policies exclude the use of public intervention, leaving the development of this
sector to the market

>> The number of charging points is still rather low in nearly all European countries. The creation of a European public enterprise could fill this gap as private companies don’t invest in charging point grid

>> Public procurement doesn’t guarantee that vehicles will be produced in the EU. Large multinationals could win the tender, so social and ecological binding clauses should be included

>> Battery cell manufacturers may have announced investments in Germany, Hungary and Poland but there is a total lack of a European plan in tackling this. This leaves the sector entirely to market forces. Countries like Spain, France and Italy will be excluded.

>> Current availability of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) is limited. Their costs are also very high, and the range of charge is unsatisfactory. Ambitious environmental targets of the EU will therefore not be met

>> Investment plans of the OEM are mainly directed to China (45%) and, only marginally to Europe (Germany 23.9%, France 3.5%)

>> PHEV models have to comply with stricter environmental thresholds, require more components which means they could create more jobs than purely electric ones

>> In order to facilitate sectoral change, securing labour and protect the environment, private and public investment need to be directed to other fuels like hydrogen. The number of public transport vehicles must be increased and vehicles need to be subjected to environmental and climate protection

>> Huge investments in the public sector are necessary to secure jobs in the automotive industry