In an inspiring atmosphere at the popup event location MUCBOOK CLUBHOUSE Franzi in the Bahnhofsviertel, around 70 guests will discuss the 3rd Speaker Series "Future of Mobility" on July 7, 2022 around the topic "Sustainable & Circular - Buzzwords or serious goal of the automotive industry?"

They received very different impulses from our experts Dr. Irene Feige (Head of Climate Strategy and Circular Economy at BWM) and Prof. Markus Lienkamp (mobility expert and Chair of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Munich).

Irene Feige focused in particular on the exciting reorientation of the entire value chain in BMW's production. The goal is to achieve complete climate neutrality by 2050 and already a 60 percent saving by 2030 - and this across the entire value chain. BMW's top management has made this clear by signing the "Business Ambition for 1.5 C der Science Based Target Initiative“ sealed. One practical example is the use of leather in car interiors, which is to be replaced by sustainable and lower-emission materials. Another very pictorial example is the use of steel for the car body in its original, raw state. With regard to the batteries installed, a positive contribution is also to be made to the aforementioned goals by recycling raw materials such as nickel, lithium and cobalt. In addition to these measures relating to individual materials, BMW has agreed standards with all suppliers with regard to environmental protection and working conditions. These are regularly checked for compliance and, if the standards are not observed, the supplier is excluded from the supplier pool.

In contrast, our second speaker Prof. Markus Lienkamp gave a scientifically sound insight into the measurable impacts and effects of tomorrow's mobility. He focused on the great ecological as well as economic benefits of electric vehicles as sharing vehicles, summing up the solution with the three words "AVOID; SHARE; IMPROVE". A practical example from the company's own environment is the use of public transport, which makes a positive contribution to compliance with emission values if the capacity utilization is high. Furthermore, Markus Lienkamp provided an insight into how CO2 emissions are reduced when using electric mobility in comparison to the use of gasoline or diesel vehicles in relation to the range. Thus, we came back to our guiding principle: If we want to achieve our climate protection goals, we have to avoid, shift and improve mobility.

The discussion that followed then turned to questions from the audience:

A guest wanted to know whether BMW also has sustainability in production in addition to sustainability in the supply chains? The answer was enthusiastic: BMW is currently building a completely climate-neutral plant in which production takes place without CO2 emissions.

In addition, the question arose as to whether old gasoline-powered cars could not simply be converted into electric cars, thus saving raw materials and enabling better recycling? However, Markus Lienkamp had to reject this idea, which keeps coming up, because normal combustion vehicles are only suitable for conversion to a limited extent, as the batteries cannot be placed in the engine compartment due to their weight.

We thank Dr. Irene Feige and Prof. Markus Lienkamp for the interesting exchange and their insights into the future of mobility. A big thank you also goes to our host Fabienne Fuss.