The German government is continuing to put its faith in incentives including exempting electric vehicles from vehicle tax and improving conditions for tax on company vehicles. A total of 180 million euros have also been made available to the National Mobility Shop Window Initiative.

All in all, said Angela Merkel, "stamina and vision" are needed to foster new technologies like electromobility. "In contrast to the days when the Kaiser hoped that horses would remain the main means of transport, today you have a Chancellor who believes in electromobility," she declared.

The German government sees the switch to new engine technology as one of the main challenges in the field of mobility in the 21^st century. Germany is to become the leading market for electric mobility. This, said Angela Merkel, will call for extensive cooperation – across branches of industry and across national borders.

Discussing strategies and measures

This conference offers representatives of the business community, the academic and research community, civil society and politicians the chance to find out more about the various aspects of electric mobility and the potentials it offers through addresses, panel discussions and expert forums. Experts from Germany and further afield discussed strategies and measures to make electric vehicles more attractive to consumers.

An exhibition that presents and explains current developments in the field of electric mobility is running parallel to the conference.

The conference has been organised and run by the Joint Agency for Electric Mobility (GGEMO) in cooperation with the National Electric Mobility Platform. The German government and the automobile industry founded the Platform three years ago with a view to making Germany the leading market for electric vehicles and German industry the main supplier of such vehicles.