Bosch, the supplier of technology and services, welcomes the measures announced today by the German federal government designed to promote electromobility. “The measures announced today by the federal government are an important and necessary step toward achieving the ambitious goal of having a million electric vehicles on the road by 2020,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. Offering subsidies to car buyers as a limited-time program is reasonable considering the current conditions, he said.
In order to achieve a lasting effect, Denner pointed to the importance of the additional measures, which in particular include a strong infrastructure. Denner believes that the plan to build 15,000 charge spots, which was also announced, is necessary to make electric cars a more practical proposition.
He said that electric cars must also be represented in the used-vehicle market. Government grants in particular could contribute to the creation of a second-hand market by facilitating the gradual replacement of entire fleets with electric vehicles.
The decisive factor for the breakthrough of electromobility remains the vehicles’ purchase price. To reduce this, however, batteries must become cheaper. “Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility,” Denner said. Last fall, Bosch acquired a U.S. start-up that has developed a disruptive cell technology. Bosch is also working with several Japanese partners on developing a new generation of lithium-ion cells. The company is confident that by 2020, it will be able to double electric cars’ range and halve battery costs.
