There has hardly been a trade show in recent years that did not focus on alternative drives. Although the almost exclusive focus on green techniques that we experienced at the turn of the decade, has now subsided and the manufacturers also provide a stage again for potent burners and high-consumption super athletes. But that does not mean that efforts to protect the environment have diminished. Rather, they now belong to the canon of every car manufacturer and the alternative driven models mix confidently with their conventional siblings. We have traced what is already there, what will come soon and what we have to wait.
In terms of electric cars, the conditions are (still) clearly regulated, but the German manufacturers no longer want from Tesla be demonstrated and pick up with promising studies to the counter-attack. 500 kilometers range with sporty driving style and only 15 minutes to the socket, which promises Porsche with the mission E; Audis Trial E-Tron Quattro has a similar range, but needs 30 minutes to fast-refuel. If that is the future, she looks very bright.
But currently the car makers are a bit on the spot, after BMW's i3 there was no significant new release more. The problem: Models like the Munich Stromer are currently almost completely exhausting what is feasible, and that remains the hard currency of e-mobility; especially in times of a still patchy power outlet network. New batteries would bring a quantum leap, but it will take another four or five years until the promising lithium-polymer technology is ready for mass production. Only then, on a grand scale, will all the exciting studies be silently approaching us as new series e-mobiles.
It looks completely different with the hybrids. Plug-in is the keyword that is on everyone's lips at the IAA - and in many models in the near future too. The technology is no longer rocket science, it is tried and tested and affordable; Depending on the size of the battery, the semi-electric vehicles called PHEV can do a little more or less than 50 purely electric kilometers. Nothing about that will change anytime soon. Experts agree that this range is sufficient for most everyday journeys and that a larger power storage unit would only lead to more ballast, which the combustion engine would have to carry along to increase consumption over longer distances. The latest representatives of this genre include the VW Tiguan GTE, which has been electrified with well-known group technology, and the BMW models 2 Series Active Tourer, 3 Series and 7 Series, all of which will be on the market in just a few months. But the classic hybrids, without a socket connection, are still in demand: From 2016, Toyota will initially be sending the new Prius into the race as a so-called full hybrid, which should get by with 3,1 liters of fuel - a good liter more than the plug-in models.
The topic of hydrogen has become fairly quiet: Although some Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix35 with fuel cell drive as shuttle vehicles commute silently between the halls on the extensive exhibition center, no manufacturer places a prominent focus on technology. Most recently, Audi demonstrated in Los Angeles over a year ago with the H7 H-Tron Quattro that you mastered the technology; even the combination of fuel cell and plug-in hybrid. But putting the study into series production was never serious. The infrastructure hurdle is currently still too great; there are not even a handful of petrol stations in Germany where the hydrogen could be obtained. After all, in 2016 Honda also wants to take the step after Hyundai and Toyota, and launch the Clarity FCV, initially in Japan and the USA, but perhaps also in Europe. Fully refueled, there are at least 480 kilometers between the petrol pumps.
Another alternative fuel is much easier to obtain: natural gas. Again and again, fossil energy storage is brought into play as an alternative to petrol and diesel, since the gas reserves that lie dormant in the earth are significantly larger than the oil reserves. But it is also clear that this can only be a temporary solution. Nevertheless, the major manufacturers are also enjoying it: Audi, for example, will soon add a CNG variant to the recently introduced A4, which is supposed to relieve both the environment and the wallet.
Author: Michael Gebhardt / SP-X