The IAA is the world’s most important trade fair for mobility. It will be opened by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Frankfurt am Main on 15 September 2011. In addition to the many world premieres of new models – no other trade fair anywhere in the world presents more innovations – this IAA will have a special premiere.
For the first time the German Association of the Automotive Industry, which organises the IAA, is dedicating a hall on the trade show grounds to the topic of “electric mobility.” This is a new approach supporting and complementing the electric mobility activities at the other stands.
The “Hall of Electric Mobility” will cover several manufacturers of electric vehicles, including Daimler, Opel, Chevrolet, German E-Cars, Renault, Citroen, Mitsubishi and Peugeot. Various suppliers, including Bosch and Siemens, have their own stands in this hall. And large companies from other fields – such as IBM, BASF and E.ON – along with associations including the ZDK and VDE, and universities, the shared stands of the German states of Hesse and of Bavaria can all be found in the Hall of Electric Mobility. Visitors to the IAA will also have an opportunity to take electric cars out for a test drive on the IAA grounds.
VDA President Matthias Wissmann stressed, “This multi-industry presentation is intended to showcase the changing value-added chain and demonstrate that tomorrow’s mobility needs a joint effort leading far beyond the conventional boundaries of individual branches of industry. This is about network management, renewable energy production, new components and materials, lightweight construction and power electronics, integration in the form of ‘smart communities’ and the ‘smart grid,’ intermodal concepts such as car sharing and telematics services, and not least the whole issue of energy storage, including the development of battery cells just as much as recycling and packaging.” There is a huge amount of interest in this new approach, particularly from the media and professionals, as shown by the large number of inquiries reaching the VDA.
Furthermore, on 21 September the VDA and other industry associations are holding their first joint “Electric Mobility Congress” in the Congress Center at Messe Frankfurt. This congress will examine the electric mobility ecosystem and thus the entire value-added chain.
VDA President Wissmann will kick the proceedings off. In the first part of the congress, high-ranking representatives of the automotive industry – such as Dr. Klaus Draeger, member of the board of management at BMW AG, Development; Dr Bernd Bohr, chairman of the Automotive Group at Robert Bosch GmbH; Dr Thomas Weber, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research & Mercedes Benz Cars Development; and Dr Rudolf Krebs, Group Chief Officer for Electric Traction, Volkswagen AG – will speak about electric mobility in its various forms and in international competition. In addition, there will be talks by board members and CEOs from supply companies and the energy and electrical industries.
Federal Minister of Transport Dr. Peter Ramsauer will also deliver a statement at the Electric Mobility Congress. The final item on the agenda will be an expert panel discussion on “Concepts for vehicles and mobility.” Wissmann underlined, “Such a broad-based and informative range covering a number of industries cannot be found at any other congress on the subject of electric mobility. It thus sets new standards and is a major, integral component of the large complex that is the IAA.”
