Electromobility floods the Market
“The transformation of our industry will be stopped by nothing.“
(Matthias Müller, press release Volkswagen, 11.09.2017)
Slowly but steadily OEM’s and suppliers are realising the danger ahead. “The transformation of our industry will be stopped by nothing,”1 says the chairman of the board of directors Matthias Müller of Volkswagen. With regards to electromobility, the chairman and CEO of the MAHLE GmbH Wolf-Henning Scheider states, “Besides a basis scenario we also developed extreme scenarios, to be shaken up and not labor under misapprehension.”2 Thus, the evolution of the automotive industry towards electrically powered vehicles has arrived. The question we continue to ask ourselves is, how fast will this change occur and is everyone preparing accordingly?
Forecast and Comparison
According to the “electromobility agenda” of Volkswagen the company will have electrified its entire model portfolio, offering a fully electrically powered alternative for each model. With their complete programme they wish to become number one in terms of electromobility.1
This all sounds very glamorous, however, Volkswagen has not been the role model for zero-emission vehicles. We rather think of the entrepreneur Elon Musk’s worldwide known example organisation. Tesla recently introduced their newest models, an electrically powered truck and a sportscar. With a full weight of 40t the truck has a maximum range of 800km. In the meantime, the charging infrastructure of the future “mega chargers” will be expanded, providing enough energy for 600km within a charging process of a half an hour. The new roadster exceeds all expectations with a top speed of 400km/h, an acceleration of 0 to 100 in 1.9 seconds and a range of 1,000km.3
It seems, the visions of various automotive manufacturers are still quite different. Apart from surreal dreams and spectacular plans real life examples already exist of course: for example the Chinese city of Shenzhen (approx. 13 mio. Inhabitants). As of the end of this year, the entire public transport will have been replaced by electronically powered busses within two years, a fleet of 14,000. The motivation behind this was mainly the extreme situation of pollution and the resulting demands by the government.4
Preparing for Change …
Various factors influence the speed of the transformation: political settings, technological advancements, etc. Bottom line, change will come or better yet, is already here, the interpretation of each individual differs. Regardless, the question remains, how do I prepare myself for the “revolution”? What will my business model look like in the future as a manufacturer of ignition systems? When the competition for the remaining demand increases, will I still be able to sell the competitive advantage of my particle filters?
… with CHANGCE-thinking and pi4tec
To answer these questions and many more pi4tec offers support. As a technically oriented consulting service provider the enterprise supports in realising, analysing and preparing for this change and its consequences. The array of services entails strategy consulting in e-mobility and developing new markets, steering innovation initiatives, technical support in development projects and inclusion of partners/suppliers on an international basis.
pi4tec focuses its proposition on thinking in chances and hence on CHANGCE-thinking. The method helps enterprises, which are affected by the change in the mobility industry, to rethink and discover new potentials. For the one or other supplier this transformation may seem a death sentence, however this upheaval also embodies incredible opportunities, which can be discovered and realised through CHANGCE-thinking.
[1] Volkswagen AG
[2] MAHLE GmbH
[3] TESLA
[4] Shenzhen, China
[5] www.pi4tec.com