Electric mobility 12/06/2023

Trendscouting for the automotive region Baden-Württemberg

The Cluster Electric Mobility South-West represents Baden-Württemberg at the world's largest Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS) in California.

The 36th Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS36), organized and hosted this year by the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA), is the most significant showcase for industry innovation and the longest running international conference dedicated to electric vehicles and technologies in this field. This year 3.000 experts, 139 exhibitors and 300 speakers participated in Sacramento, California.

Cluster Electric Mobility South-West is part of the program

EVS36 was also a successful event for the Cluster Electric Mobility South-West: As part of its internationalisation strategy, the cluster, under the management of the State Agency for New Mobility Solutions and Automotive (e-mobil BW), presented current activities and publications, offered a meeting point for interested professionals from around the world at the Baden-Württemberg booth and participated in the program with presentations. Many cluster members from research institutes and universities presented their work in the conference. Michael Schlick, Ulm University of Applied Sciences, was awarded for the best poster.

Three team members of the cluster management were selected by a jury to participate in the diverse conference program of the leading international trade fair:

• Wolfgang Fischer: Intersectoral cooperation as a strategic key principle for the transformation of the automotive region Baden-Württemberg
• Katja Gicklhorn: International cooperation as a success factor for the industrial transformation process in the automotive sector
• Walter Holderried: Possible contributions of state policies and measures to the implementation and scaling of charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure for long-haul trucks: An example of the state of Baden-Württemberg

The sessions offered a good opportunity to present the activities of the cluster to a large audience and to generate good visibility for the approximately 200 members and for Baden-Württemberg as a leading international innovation and production region in the field of alternative drive technologies.

Focus on infrastructure and commercial vehicles

The focus of this year's EVS was primarily on charging infrastructure and the use of commercial vehicles to decarbonize road transport. The opening program, in particular, had a strong North American focus with speakers such as California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Christopher Coes, SMUD CEO Paul Lau and California Energy Commissioner Patty Monahan. This provided good insights into the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, forecasts for the market ramp-up of BEVs in the USA and developments in the technology hotspots in the USA.