42nd KS Environmental Award: "Leave Rural Areas Alone!" - Focus on Suburban Structures

At the 42nd Award Ceremony for the Energy and Environmental Prize of the Automobile Club KS e.V. in the Old Congress Hall in Munich, keynote speaker Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stefanie Bremer from the Department of Architecture, Urban and Landscape Planning at the University of Kassel, in her lecture on the topic "Car - Energy - Environment: How do we ensure intelligent mobility for tomorrow?" called for a clear focus on suburban urbanized areas in the context of the transportation transition. These areas offer the most potential in terms of climate protection impact. In rural areas, there is often simply no alternative to the car. "Leave the rural areas alone. You will not win over village residents, farmers, and craftsmen for the transportation transition," appealed the scientist, who also co-runs the office "orange edge" for urban planning and mobility research. She supported her theses with numbers.

According to projections, only about 10 million Germans qualify as pure rural residents, while pure urban residents number about 20 million. The rest, and thus the large majority, are more likely "between-city dwellers," and it is here that efforts should be focused. Bremer called for moving beyond the often-cited but undifferentiated contrast between "city-country" and developing "spatially differentiated mobility concepts." The goal is to make the city "traffic-free" and to organize traffic accordingly. Here, "fine mobility" could play a central role, meaning more foot, bicycle, and light e-mobility. A mere "drive transition" will not suffice to get a handle on the traffic jam issue.

Bremer: Public transport in rural areas will remain an illusion

Furthermore, the illusion that public transport can be significantly expanded in rural areas should be abandoned. "Buses and trains will never be as sexy as bikes or cars," says Bremer. However, existing public transport can be improved, and by making transportation means attractive, commuting time could be utilized as working time. Bremer called on politicians to awaken people's "lust for the future." "Can we think of transportation in a way that it is fun, exciting, and engaging?" the scientist rhetorically asked. Too often, emphasis is placed on what is not wanted instead of drawing a positive vision. "The transportation transition can also be sexy," Bremer believes. Only in this way can the country break free from the "transportation transition loop" in which it is stuck, repeating the same debates over and over.

"If we seriously want to achieve the drive transition in the broad mass now, we need to jointly focus on suburban-urbanized areas. Period. End of story.", pointed out the urban planner. 

On the other hand, it is the task of politics to take people's needs and desires seriously and to accept, for example, the joy of the automobile.

Bavaria's Environment Minister Comes Out as an Early Adopter of E-Mobility

Bavarian Environment and Consumer Protection Minister Thorsten Glauber of the Free Voters also took up the theme, noting that the automobile still fascinates, but even "country bumpkins" understood that you get around better in the city with public transportation. However, in contrast to his party leader Hubert Aiwanger or Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder, who want to reverse the phase-out of combustion engines, he made a passionate plea for e-mobility, stating that in his view, the combustion engine has no future. Glauber, who revealed himself as an early customer of a BMW i3 and has completely electrified the ministerial fleet, said this is a commandment of climate protection but also basic physics, as the electric car is simply vastly superior in terms of efficiency. The goal is to drastically reduce energy consumption. These are the physical facts and necessities if we are to achieve climate targets and curb the climate crisis.

Escalated Climate Crisis: One Third Only in Climate Adaptation Measures

His ministry now invests one-third of its budget in climate adaptation measures, which become necessary due to heavy rainfall or drought, such as recently after the flooding events. In his view, many companies and citizens are often already ahead while politics stagnates. He appealed to see the transformation as an incentive. The technologies, such as the use of bi-directional charging and cars as buffer storage instead of stationary storage in the basement, already exist. The expansion of photovoltaics on rooftops is still happening far too hesitantly. Politics needs to create the right regulations faster; the country as a whole needs to speed up; there is no more time for hesitation. Asia and China have long had a "roadmap" and are driving the transformation; they are not waiting for Europe. We should not be afraid of change because it is coming one way or another, Glauber appealed to the audience.

Daimler Truck: We have the opportunity to act

With the KS Energy and Environmental Award in the Vehicle Technology category, Germany's third-largest automobile club honored Daimler Truck this year for its sustainable transport and comprehensive technological know-how. Martin Hink, Head of eMobility/H2 Charging, Infrastructure & Ecosystem Business Solutions Mercedes-Benz Trucks at Daimler Truck AG, emphasized that swift action is necessary for greater climate protection in transport. "We have the opportunity to act," he appealed. He believes that, in addition to technology, the cost issue will also reach parity with diesel, particularly due to toll exemptions and lower energy costs of e-trucks like the eActros. The third important factor is infrastructure, which is currently seriously lacking. 35,000 stations specifically for e-trucks are needed by 2030 to electrify truck traffic, even though 60 percent of customers do not require megawatt charging. This is more for highways and spontaneous charging processes, of which there will still be plenty.

Politics must set the right framework and support here, even though the industry itself is actively involved in expanding the charging network with initiatives such as the Milence cooperative together with Traton and Volvo Group. Hink also pointed out the human factor: drivers are very receptive to e-trucks, appreciating their quietness and performance. The long-distance suitability is currently being demonstrated with the eActros 600 on a 13,000-kilometer tour of Europe, where the promised 500 kilometers of range have so far proven to be absolutely realistic. Furthermore, the company is also pursuing the path of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen combustion engines, both well-advanced technologies which are considered to have a place in the future propulsion mix.

Mahle system could accelerate expansion of WEG infrastructure

The award in the Mobility Systems category was given to the automotive supplier MAHLE for its chargeBIG6 e-vehicle charging solution for residential and small business sectors. With MAHLE chargeBIG6, up to six electric cars can be charged simultaneously at the existing house connection with up to 22 kW. A significant advantage, as single-place solutions in multi-family homes otherwise heavily burden the power connection. If additional charging points are to be added, a new and more powerful power connection is often required, which involves additional costs. In contrast, the charging system in multi-family homes integrates the charging point into the existing network connection of the associated apartment. The integrated load management ensures intelligent use of the existing network connection and prevents overload.

The system can be expanded by an additional six charging points. With the charging solution for small applications, a major and frequent obstacle to switching to an e-car is eliminated. This could have a significant effect towards more sustainability, as more than two-thirds of German households are in two- and multi-family homes. On average, a maximum of 15 kW and two to three hours of charging time are needed here. Moreover, the solution is resource-efficient, and the components can be replaced individually.

"We developed chargeBIG6 around load management. It is technically more efficient and at the same time simpler. With this concept, we are able to be significantly cheaper – with products 'Made in Germany'," explains Matthias Krumbholz, Development Manager at MAHLE chargeBIG.