Interesting Interview Reveals the Future of Electric Cars

A fascinating interview with Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a renowned automotive expert, highlights important aspects of tomorrow's mobility. Dudenhöffer shares his extensive knowledge of and perspectives on a range of topics, including the traffic transformation, its impact on the environment, and the future viability of e-cars.

Russia's terrible war of aggression in Ukraine has changed the world. So has the automotive industry, which has to deal with higher production costs and supply bottlenecks. Apart from that, an increasing number of cyberattacks is to be expected in the future, which can disrupt entire production chains.

The automotive sector definitely needs to move away from fossil fuels. The climate-friendly turn in the road is electromobility. The industry is ready for this, everything here is moving in the direction of sustainability, and the e-vehicles produced are getting better and better, and more efficient. What is missing is a stable political framework that includes consistent, long-term support for e-mobility.

Yes, there's no way around all-electric drive systems for private cars – that's the future of the automotive industry. Manufacturers that don't go along with this will probably be phased out. For transport and commercial vehicles, fuel cells (note: hydrogen) could be a low-emission solution.

In China, an innovative exchange concept is also establishing itself with so-called exchange stations: Instead of charging, the empty battery of an electric car is exchanged with a fully charged battery within three minutes. In Europe, however, the focus is currently on fast charging. Of course, carmakers can differentiate themselves a little better with individual batteries, but look, people don’t use their own gasoline either. Especially for vehicles that are in use 24 hours a day, like cabs in big cities, this could become interesting.

The current decade will be strongly characterized by e-mobility. The next big thing to come and radically change the industry is autonomous driving. In other words, driving e-cars without humans behind the wheel. A system will take care of everything, automatically. The autonomous car can also handle complex situations such as driving through a traffic circle or the correct behavior at a crosswalk. In the process, there are no longer any drivers, only passengers who request such robot cabs for a specific time and a possibly shared route. The temporary renting of autonomous vehicles could also effectively reduce the density of cars per capita and the space requirements mentioned above.

The relationship with one's own car as property and status symbol will disappear. The younger generation in particular wants products that are easy to use, efficient, and can be optimized at any time with new versions.

In the next ten years, flexible car subscriptions, i.e. full-service leasing, will become the norm, especially among private individuals. Customers will then no longer be owners, but users.

The auto industry does not take on the role of educator, but responds to customer wishes and builds vehicles accordingly. What is much more needed here is an environment-friendly policy that sets the 'green' framework.