European community for mobility management

The German Federal Cabinet has passed the government program Electromobility. The program is the government’s response to the recommendations which were given by the German National Platform Electromobility (NPE) in its second report.

The government program defines the framework conditions for electromobility in Germany in the upcoming years and has been developed taking the recommendations of the German National Platform Electromobility (NPE) into account. The German ecological transport Club VCD, member of the NPE, criticised the recommendations as industry driven and merely based on subsidies which would not foster sustainable and intelligent use of electromobility.

One focus of the government program will be research and development (R&D), in which the government plans to double its efforts and provides additional funding of one billion Euro in this legislative period until 2013. A central body will be established to coordinate the numerous R&D activities and to support small to medium-sized enterprises to access funding programmes. The German R&D activities will be embedded in European and international processes. This includes strategic partnerships with other countries as well as international cooperation in standardisation. Additionally, regional showcases and technical flagships will be developed as innovative tools to reach synergy effects. “The showcases will enable us to test the mass compatibility of electromobility solutions”, says Federal Minister for Transport Peter Ramsauer.

The government program also includes establishing attractive regulatory framework conditions which support the development of a leading market on electromobility in Germany. This can include tax advantages as well as non-monetary incentives in traffic like special parking for electric vehicles, access to normally closed streets for delivery or the use of bus lanes. 

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