Emissions are to fall to 95 million metric tons per year by 2030, according to the federal Climate Protection Act. But vehicles with conventional drive technologies, i.e., gasoline or diesel engines, are widely used in the transport sector. However, many greenhouse gases are emitted during their operation – and this harms the climate.
Vehicle manufacturers are now developing and building more vehicles with new drive technologies. Demand, which is reflected in the number of new registrations, is also increasing.
Two approaches are being taken for decarbonization:
However, the EWI is concerned with more than alternative drive technologies: With intelligent, data-driven approaches, the energy transition in transport can be designed to be system-friendly, cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly. These approaches require a demand-oriented charging and network infrastructure. Simultaneously, charging processes must be controlled, taking into account both fluctuations in electricity production (for example, due to volatile wind and solar power) and capacity bottlenecks in the power grid, also known as “smart charging“. For example, an electric car battery can be optimally used as storage for renewable energies and even be used to serve the system.
With the EWI’s total energy system model DIMENSION, the cost-minimizing vehicle mix to cover the annual mobility demand can be determined. Current political, regulatory, and technological framework conditions and interactions with other sectors are taken into account. The model accounts for supply costs for electricity, heat, and (synthetic) fuels across sectors. In the transport sector, passenger transport, light commercial vehicles, and heavy goods vehicles, among others, are considered.
The detailed mapping of the transport sector allows the analysis of sector interaction via electromobility (electricity) and applications of synthetic fuels (power-to-X) in different scenarios. This possibility enables, for example, the investigation of the effects of varying support regimes and cost developments of individual technologies.
