Mr. Marx, you were a top speaker at the VDE E-Mobility Conference in Frankfurt – what was your core message? I made our pioneering role clear: Opel is going electric – and more consistently than almost any other German car manufacturer. From 2028 we will no longer offer combustion engines in Europe. And we are driving the transition to e-mobility in record time: As of October 2022, Opel currently has twelve electrified vehicles on the market, including our entire commercial vehicle fleet. The company remains true to its principles – namely to make innovations accessible to everyone.
You titled your presentation “Disruption requires agility”. Disruption describes something quite destructive. Something that replaces old business models. But Opel is and will remain an automobile manufacturer… Disruptive innovations do not necessarily have to completely destroy a market. Sometimes they just turn it inside out from the ground up. And this is exactly what is happening. But such transformations are nothing new for Opel, disruption is in our genes.
To what extent? Adam Opel laid the foundation stone in Rüsselsheim 160 years ago. Since then, the company has reinvented itself again and again: Opel developed from a sewing machine factory to the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer to an internationally important automobile brand. We are currently completing the next transformation: from automobile manufacturer to electric mobility service provider. It is a change that is taking place in the slipstream of the market: Currently, low-emission vehicles account for 25 percent of total sales. It will rise to 45 percent by 2025 and be over 70 percent by 2030.
Andreas Marx has been head of Opel Germany since the beginning of 2020 and is therefore responsible for market share, profitability and customer satisfaction as well as for all new Opel launches in the light commercial vehicle and passenger car segment in Germany.
“New platforms enable ranges of 500 to 800 kilometers.”
However, technical parameters, such as a longer range, are also decisive for the acceptance of e-mobility. And this is where development is making great strides. Our goal is to offer electric vehicles that perfectly meet customers’ requirements. With four new all-electric platforms from Stellantis, we are future-proof: Depending on the segment, the platforms will allow ranges of 500 to 800 kilometers in the future. We have also set ourselves a best-of-class target for fast charging at 32 kilometers per minute. But we also think of e-mobility more broadly and rely on other technologies.
How about the hydrogen fuel cell? For example. A full load, a range of 400 kilometers, refueled in three minutes – the Vivaro-e HYDROGEN is a real alternative for commercial customers. And with the Rocks-e, too, we are breaking new ground, opening up a completely new customer group. A scooter driver’s license, which you can get in Germany from the age of 15, is enough to be allowed to drive the small city electric vehicle. In the KARGO variant, too, the City-Stromer delivers new mobility solutions – for example for emission-free transport in inner cities.
With the E-Mobility Conference, the VDE has created a platform for dialogue and exchange between politics, business and science.
Over 200 actors involved in the change were present, including vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, standardization and science as well as power grid operators.
The two-day conference offered a very good insight into the activities of the various industries. The industry get-together was moderated by Totinia Hörner.
“Opel has underlined its pioneering role in the field of electromobility.”
Not only the fleet will be emission-free – how important is the climate neutrality of the company as a whole? Our goal is to be CO2-neutral by 2038 – in the entire value chain. That – and only that – will be our license to continue selling automobiles. Being part of Stellantis allows us to take a 360 degree approach to sustainable mobility. One focus is on the use of sustainable materials. We are also building an independent battery and component supply. For example, a gigafactory for state-of-the-art battery cell production is being built in Kaiserslautern.
You say that the disruptive changes require agility – from whom exactly? From everyone involved. The changes affect a wide range of areas in the company: from engineering to the dealer network to production. But customers also play a key role. They too must proactively support the changes. Above all, the challenges are a question of mindset: we should all see it as an opportunity to actively help shape the automotive future.
At the two-day conference, you gained an insight into the activities of the various industries – what did you take away with you? It was impressive to see how companies in other parts of the value chain deal with e-mobility. For example, a charging infrastructure that can be integrated into curbs was presented. Or software solutions that make paying at the charging station as easy as at the supermarket checkout. These are exciting developments. And as an active player, Opel will make its contribution to consistently driving the turn towards e-mobility.
A platform for knowledge exchange and networking: More than 200 high-ranking speakers and players from business, science and politics met for the first time in Frankfurt at the end of October for the VDE E-Mobility Conference. Manufacturers of vehicles, charging stations or battery technologies, suppliers, standardization and science as well as power grid operators spent two days discussing joint solutions for future mobility. The Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e. V. (VDE). The technology organization combines science, standardization, testing, certification and application consulting under one roof. The patron of the event was Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport.
November 2022
Photos: VDE/Thomas Ecke