It is the changing moment to the electric cars and hybrid car engines from gasoline-powered cars. Even Barack Obama, US president has challenged automakers to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. And many industry experts predict electronic vehicles will transform not only the automobile industry but our lives. Just like the gasoline-powered cars led the development the entire industry ranging from the ubiquitous filling stations to fast-food restaurants along highway exits. Along with this change, electric cars are expected to hit mass production and it's reasonable to think about what we need for development of smart cars and electronic vehicle.
To keep up with this change, here in Kintex, the Smart Vehicle and Smart Road 2011 Seminar was held from April 5 to 6 for two days while Seoul Motor Show 2011 is showcasing various electronic vehicles in the hall. The Seminar was for understanding the various changes in the ecosystem brought about by the appearance of new intelligent cars, such as smart cars and electric vehicles.
About 150 experts of the automobile industry including, Scott Mccormick from Connected Vehicle Trade Association the US and Stefan Hoepfel from Siemens in Germany were present to share information on the latest business models in Korea and the world's automotive industry as well as keep current with industrial technologies and trends.
Stefan Hoepfel, Senior Expert Sales in Siemens had a presentation on "Electric Vehicles needs IT Technology". As oil price peaked high in the world and increase of CO2 emissions endangers climate, we are facing the need for a new way to use energy which means achieving low carbon economy is imperative. People came up with electricity for the replacement. Accordingly global electricity production is expected to increase by 60% by 2030.
In an interview with IT Times, Stefan Hoepfel said, "Charging infrastructures are essential for electric cars in order to drive up," he continued, "Building an intrastructure is the most important factor to utilize and develop the electronic vehicles industry and market. Let's assume that you travel on electronic vehicles, you must need to charge the battery for your vehicle and it might be really inconvienient if there is a few charging stations in the areas. In that manner, integration into household, parking solutions and electronic power system as well as urban structues will be taken place in order to provide you the complete full electronicmobility."
He added, "EV and Electro-mobility Infrastructure are part of the interacting smart gird, and smart grid will ensure tomorrow's mobility." Smart Grids increase the share of renewable energies and Evs could stabilize grid as mobile battery. Lastly, he said, "Information and communication technologies will enable the interaction between the EV, connecting infrastructure and power grid."
In the meantime, the rest of the seminar was given by many other industry experts dealing with smart road, technologies and standards as well as market status.