A fact-finding mission on the topic of “Storage Technology and Charging Infrastructure for E-mobility” in Germany was organised by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) from 14 to 17 June 2021 in association with eclareon GmbH. The fact-finding mission was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative. The programme was designed for stakeholders in the E-mobility industry in India.

The objectives of the mission were to arrive at an understanding of the existing policy framework and business models & current research and technical developments in the E-mobility sector in Germany.

On 14 June, the online event kicked off with a round of introductions that was followed by presentations from companies namely, NOW-GmbH and H2 Mobility by Mr. Christian Dieckhoff and Mr. Benjamin Jödecke respectively. “Charging infrastructure planning in Germany”, and hydrogen technology and infrastructure, were the topic of their presentations. The second theme for the day was “Battery Systems.” Dr. Marius Bauer of Zentrum für Sonnenenergieund Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) presented an overview of battery technologies, whereas Mr. Bijan Abdolrahimi from Route Charge delivered a presentation on battery exchange systems for transportation, especially for the logistics industry.

The second day of the virtual event was marked by project presentations on “Current scientific developments & applications.” “Charging infrastructure 2.0” was the topic of the presentation by Dr. Christian Spalthoff and Dr. Martin Braun from Fraunhofer IEE. The research project “Charging Infrastructure 2.0” examines the influence of electric mobility on the energy networks of the future. The next presentation by Ms. Manuela Schaller from Pracht Licht GmbH was about the charging system technology offered by the company.

On 16 June, the topic was “E-mobility in practice”. On one hand, Ms. Stefanie Dedeyne from BTB GmbH Berlin deliberated on “Project FlexNet4E-mobility”, on the other hand, Mr. Rene Wetzel from Ubitricity GmbH shed some light on “Smart Charging in Practice”.

The project “FlexNet4E-mobility” aims to understand possibilities for the optimized use of excess renewable energy for electric vehicles, as well as to analyse the effectiveness of electricity storage systems at different grid levels and eventually to develop intelligent operating and control strategies.

The theme for the last day revolved around battery systems and storage technologies. In the first session Frank Baumann, BMZ group gave a presentation, which is a global player in Lithium Ion battery systems. This was followed by a presentation by Andreas Schaal of MANZ AG, which offers production equipment for lithiumion battery cells, modules and packs.

In the second session the areas of focus were “Fuel Cells in action” presented by Mr. Matteo Schmid from Proton Motor Fuel Cell GmbH, and “Battery Control Systems” portrayed by Mr. Nicolas Rau from Twaice GmbH. The day was rounded up by a feedback session offering a reflection of the entire mission.

All the sessions were followed by an interactive Q&A round. These rounds were characterized by several important discussions on topics such as incentive mechanism and regulatory policies in Germany, ways of enhancing the roll-out of EVs; the application of H2 technology in heavyduty vehicles, surveys and analyses related to various adoption scenarios for E-mobility, the pricing issues of e-vehicles, details of fuel cell technology, set up of EV charging platforms, costs of charging, the feasibility of battery charging and so on.

The sessions were moderated by Ms. Dipti Kanitkar from IGCC and Ms. Lena Möller from eclareon GmbH. The fact-finding mission was well attended by over 50 participants from industry associations and leading companies in charging and battery technologies from India. The participants were highly satisfied with the program structure and content which provided a valuable learning experience. The fact-finding mission ended on an optimistic note with the hope of mapping out a concrete path for E-mobility adoption in the very near future.

For more information please contact Ms. Dipti Kanitkar, dipti.kanitkar(at)indo-german.com.