Sustainable Manufacturing in China

I have just received an email making me aware of this new 4 minute video placed on Euronews.net. It deals with the research and teaching and learning we provide here at our Campus in Ningbo.

Originally I was hoping to get some of my friends who are working in the German automotive sector to provide a report about their experiences made at the IAA. For various reasons none of them went to the IAA this year – incredible. Anyway, instead of providing a firsthand experience, I have put something together based on what I have seen in the news:

The IAA closed on 27 September with a total number of more than 800.000 visitors. A range of concept studies dealing with how resource efficient and environmentally benign automotive transportation could look like in the (near) future were presented at the IAA. This fact was underlined by Matthias Wissmann President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA):

“This IAA has the headline “A Moving Experience.” It has also shown what the path of the “mobility of tomorrow” will be like: a plethora of options has been presented at the IAA, with the range going from the mild hybrid and the plug-in hybrid to the all-electric car, the fuel cell and hydrogen propulsion. There is also great potential in the continuing optimization of the classical internal combustion engine, where there is still the possibility of reducing consumption by 25 to 30 per cent. One thing has become clear here at the IAA: there is no “silver bullet” for mobility. We are therefore working on a “broad-based strategy” that keeps all the options open. The bottom line is that we have been able to organize an IAA so exciting that there was no way round Frankfurt for anyone who is interested in cars.” (the full speech is available here)

With regard to the current trend towards electric cars I read this interesting article that asks the question “Will the Electric Car Ever Make It to the Mass Market?”

An interesting approach towards Eco-cars is displayed below. It shows a remake of the Trabant, a car that could prove to be immensely popular in Germany because of associations with the German Reunification. The car is equipped with an electric engine, lithium-ion-batteries, and a solar-cell roof. Investors are still needed to realise volume production, however, there seems to be a chance to see the car on the streets within the next 3-5 years. The price could be up to 25000 Euros (source).

Spiegel.de has observed that most concept studies at the IAA follow the trend of „down-sizing”. The visions presented show cars that are reduced to a minimum. However, this future can be both sensible…

…and exciting-looking as the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics study proves (3.8l/100km, hybrid – 2electric and 1 diesel engine):

PS: When using google’s blog search I found this post describing a visit to the IAA including a range of pictures taken by the author.