• Your Excellencies,
ladies and gentlemen,
• I am honoured by the invitation of the Spanish presidency of the
EU council. Speaking on behalf of ACEA, I very much
appreciate the opportunity to address this influential audience.
• My job this morning is to give you the auto industry’s
perspective on the future of electric cars.
• As I was preparing my remarks, I recalled an old story I first
heard when I was studying engineering.
• The story went something like this: When Albert Einstein was a
professor in Zurich, his students had to take a test every week.
• During one of those tests, a student said to Einstein:
“Professor, you must be mistaken. These are exactly the same
questions you gave us in last week’s test.”
• Einstein simply replied:
“Yes. But the answers are different this time.”
• I think he makes a good point that we have to consider today as
well: There are no ready-made solutions.
The answers must always be right for the times.
• That’s especially true when it comes to the fundamental
questions regarding the future of sustainable mobility. And in
my presentation today, I’d like to provide some background
from the automotive industry’s perspective to help answer two
key questions:

♦ First, do electric cars offer substantial opportunities for
Europe?

♦ And, second – if yes – what should be the strategy to
accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in the EU?

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