Futurist meets battery researcher: A talk in front of running cameras

How will we live and work in 5 to 10 years? Since 25 years the trend researcher Lars Thomsen investigates topics that shape the society of the future. One of these topics is electro-mobility as an emerging technology. As a knowledgeable battery researcher Prof. Martin Winter has his own projections on the future development of electro-mobility. In front of this background, the 6w-Film- und Fernsehproduktion initiated a talk between the two researchers at MEET Battery Research Center as a contribution to the TV show Planet E of the broadcasting channel zdf.

Among researchers, as well as in industry and the general public it is a widely held assumption that electric vehicles will successively replace the classic combustion engine. However, there is no consensus on when this exactly will happen. While costs for car exhaust gas purification rise, the costs for electric vehicles decline and will finally fall below the costs of conventional cars – so far the prediction. From this specific moment of time on, which Lars Thomsen calls “Tipping Point“ the number of electric vehicles on our streets will be rising exponentially.

Prof. Winter explains that the breakthrough of electromobility in Germany is determined by many yet uncertain factors: “Whether electric cars are marketable is not only dependent on technological progress. A neat and well distributed charging infrastructure, for example, would increase the attractiveness of electric cars. But the fast establishment is a question of political will.” Thus a precise forecast of the time of the Tipping Point is difficult.
The TV feature will be broadcasted at the end of September 2017 and outlines the transformation of the mobility sector and its influence on emissions.