Is there still a future for the car?

Uwe Hochschurtz has a clear answer to the provocative question.

"The car can adapt, so it still has its prime ahead of it," says the Opel boss.

At the same time, after skeptical questions from the audience, he leaves no doubt that there is no way around low-emission drives.

Even if the energy mix still included electricity from coal, medium-sized electric cars would have a better carbon footprint than those with economical combustion engines.

Bernhard Biener

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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“There is no plan B, not even for the planet.

We have to achieve the climate targets,” says the car manager.

And not his interlocutor on the podium, the Hessian Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir from the Greens.

The traffic turnaround, the topic of the discussion, is about more than alternative drives.

Mechthild Harting, the editor of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung who deals with traffic and the environment, asks about the benefits of owning a car when Hessen's drivers are statistically stuck in traffic 1000 days a year.

Al-Wazir wants to bring public transport forward.

"In the metropolitan area, space sets natural limits for cars." That's why investments are being made in the rail network, which has shrunk since the Second World War.

hydrogen for trucks

The Minister of Transport, like his country colleagues, wants to make the nine-euro ticket a success despite all the concerns.

"But we need a solution for the next few years, not for three months." Even if Al-Wazir points out that even in rural areas for 96 percent of people in Hesse there is a bus stop no more than 600 meters away, Hochgeschurtz still prefers the car the fastest means of transport.

"People don't change if a bus comes every two hours." Then they are on the road for far too long.

When it comes to emissions, the auto industry will turn the tide.

The air has already become cleaner in many cities.

"In 2028 there will no longer be any combustion engines available from Opel." Al-Wazir agrees with the car manager on the drive issue: "In the case of cars, the case has been decided in favor of the electric drive with battery." Other solutions are being discussed for heavy goods traffic, such as liquid hydrogen.

When it comes to charging electric cars, Germany, as a high-tech country, has missed the opportunity to become a pioneer with a fast-charging infrastructure, according to the Opel boss.

"A federal initiative would have been necessary here." For the Minister of Transport, however, it can only be about start-up financing.

"The operators of the charging stations have to find a business model."

Hochgeschurtz mentions that the Opel parent company has just taken over the largest car sharing provider.

"Not everyone has to own a car, but everyone has the right to individual mobility." This is also an approach for Al-Wazir when it comes to the scarce space for cars in the cities.

"It's easier to answer when it's shared."