German industry groups urge strategy for electric vehicles

14 July 2009 19:24  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Germany needs a coordinated strategy to help develop its electric vehicle industry, three major trade groups said on Tuesday.

The groups urged a broad strategic alliance between the government and the automobile, chemical, energy and electronics industries.

The three groups are Germany’s car manufacturers association VDA, energy and water utilities association BDEW and electronics producers industry group ZVEI.

Their initiative comes as chemicals producers in Germany and elsewhere are building up capacities for electric vehicle batteries and investing in related chemical and plastics materials.

The introduction of electric vehicles in the German market needed a reliable regulatory, technical and infrastructural framework, to be put in place by government and industry, the groups said in a joint statement.

Also important were agreements on industry standards for components in the electric vehicles sector, they said.

The groups called for the appointment of a high-ranking special government officer to coordinate policies on electric vehicles. Currently, four separate federal ministries are working on the sector.

Initially, electric vehicles would likely be used only for short-distance traffic, and conventional vehicles would not be phased out in the near term, they said.

However, Germany needed to position itself today to become a global leader in this important growth sector, they said.

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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