On 10 September, we hosted the second meeting of the Expert Group on Electrification within our Interreg project Drive2Transform – with sharp inputs and a hands-on workshop on batteries, charging and the EV value chain. Key impulses came from:
- Prof. Bernhard Kölmel, Pforzheim University – “The Great Transformation: From ICE to BEV – Navigating the Automotive Revolution’s Impact on Suppliers.” A clear framing of where value shifts (platforms/software), why suppliers need dual competence, and how skills & partnerships decide competitiveness.
- Patrik Križanský, SEVA (Slovak Electric Vehicle Association), Member of E-Mobility Europe – “E-mobility (R)evolution: What lies ahead.” EV adoption is climbing; Europe must accelerate in cells, materials & powertrain efficiency to keep pace globally.
- Aaron Fishbone, GreenWay / ChargeUp Europe – “Integrative regional approaches for the transformation of the automotive industry – Challenges, opportunities and current developments in the EV charging ecosystem.” Concessions, grid capacity, data sharing and building codes are the scale-up levers for charging.
In our workshop we dived deeper into:
- EV value chain (materials → manufacturing)
- Battery value chain (cells → recycling/second life)
- Charging services & operations (data, grids, business models)
What’s next? Join us:
- 23 Sep 2025, 10:00–12:00 CEST – Webinar: DRIVING INNOVATION – The Future of Production Robotics & AI in Automotive. REGISTRATION
- 23–24 Oct, Bruneck (IT) – Automotive Transformation Conference.
- 26–27 Nov, Regensburg (DE) – Clusters Meet Regions.
Thanks to our moderators: Silvia Miháliková (SEVA), Prof. Bernhard Kölmel & Lukas Waidelich (Pforzheim University) — and to all experts for the lively debate!