Electric mobility

Electric mobility is a major topic for environmental, economic and social policy. The German government’s objective is to reduce CO2 emissions from transport by 40 to 42 percent by 2030 and thus to make a significant contribution to mitigating global warming. Hence, the most important aim is to electrify road transport as much as possible.

Fraunhofer ISI examines the different factors and forms of electric mobility in many different research projects and has accumulated extensive expertise over the years. Its main areas of research include sector coupling, market evolution scenarios, new mobility concepts and business models, user acceptance in the private and commercial sectors, infrastructure development, roadmaps for energy storage, drive concepts that focus on lithium-ion batteries, and the significance of electric mobility for the economy, society, and the environment. Our analyses of electric mobility are based on a wide range of methods, in particular on detailed models of the transformation of the transport sector in the context of the transformation of the entire energy system.

Integrating electric mobility in the larger context of the transport sector is explored in the Kopernikus project ARIADNE and the Long-Term Scenarios for the Transformation of the Energy System, in which Fraunhofer ISI models the transport sector, among other things. Researchers from Fraunhofer ISI are represented in the Strategy Dialogue for the Automotive Sector in Baden-Wuerttemberg and work for several important committees on transport, such as the Advisory Board for Climate Protection in Mobility (EKM).

Together with three other Fraunhofer institutes, Fraunhofer ISI has participated in the “KAMO: Karlsruhe Mobility High Performance Center / Profilregion” since 2016 (until the beginning of 2023: “Profilregion Mobilitätssysteme Karlsruhe”). This research alliance is one of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s High-Performance Centers and has received eight million euros of funding from the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg over the years. Here, relevant research partners from the region collaborate on integrated mobility solutions. Their goal is to make cities and their surrounding areas attractive for people to live and work despite the increasing volume of passenger and goods transport.

Questions

How do people perceive electric vehicles?

How will battery technologies and markets evolve in the future?

Under which conditions is electric mobility sustainable?

What challenges does electric mobility pose for the energy system?

Which drives and infrastructures will be used in the future?

What does the future market roll-out of alternative drives look like?

What does electric mobility imply for sharing schemes, businesses and municipalities?

What job effects does electric mobility have?

How can policies influence the development of electric mobility?