Demand funding or do your job?

Recently, Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry VDA, gave an outlook on 2022. Focus was placed on chip shortages, the right drive form, and charging infrastructure. With this, she undoubtedly named the central topics of this year. But her positions on these provide material for deeper consideration.

First, the chip shortage. Ms. Müller welcomes the efforts to build chip factories in Europe. At the same time, she reflexively calls for subsidies from the public sector. But what should the state promote, what should it pay for? If one recalls the original idea of task sharing, it was about funding overarching infrastructure and services, regardless of who entered into these alliances. All beneficiaries contribute through taxes so that these useful services for everyone can be provided.

The promotion of privately held and privately profitable chip factories clearly does not fall under this. Quite the opposite is true for the construction of charging infrastructure along highways. Because there, the long-intended benefit for the general public arises.

Then to the right drive form. Let's skip that, because I am speechless when someone still says and apparently believes today that there needs to be a competition between hydrogen, synthetic fuel, and batteries.

Finally, to the charging infrastructure. There – here we agree – the state can indeed show what it can do. And it does, especially in Germany. But, and this must also be said, it is also the task of the car manufacturers (and energy providers) to ensure the expansion of the charging network – especially since they can develop another lucrative business field from it. Because what Tesla has demonstrated with its dense Supercharger network, any German car manufacturer could also build – and almost pay out of petty cash. Instead, Ms. Müller explains in her speech: "Tesla is a niche. They don't have to build infrastructure for 15 million cars."

Perhaps not yet. But the success of Tesla, where the Model 3 and Model Y were at times the best-selling car in Switzerland and Austria – and in October 2021 in Germany as well – shows: simply doing your job, instead of always demanding subsidies, simply moves you forward.