Interview with Thomas Wöhrle (BMW)

Can you tell us more about your organsiation’s role in greenSPEED?

Yes sure. I was already involved from the very beginning of our planning to set up the proposal for this EU call. Together with the coordinator and the first project partner we set us the story line to meet the contents of the call as the first “editorial team”. Besides this, we performed a project-partner request for the cooperation to create, together with Virtual Vehicle, an excellent consortium for submitting the greenSPEED proposal.

After receiving the grant from the EU for greenSPEED, I am the technical project-leader at BMW Battery-Cell-Technology. Our main task within the BMW Team is to set up the industrial requirements for the Lithium-Ion project cell and the validation plan as guideline for the whole greenSPEED project. Both are very important to compare the results during the progress of the project against the technical targets. This can ensure that innovations gain market appeal for customers.

What challenges is the European automotive industry currently facing when it comes to Lithium-Ion Technology and how will your work in greenSPEED help to overcome them?

The consortium of the greenSPEED project represents the entire value chain for the Lithium-Ion battery from materials to battery and their processing. This approach strengthens networking and infrastructure in Europe between industry and institutes against strong international competition in this sector. greenSPEED is an innovative project for development and building-up know-how, which is essential base for industrialisation.

Why do you think that projects such as greenSPEED are important for the European Battery Production?

Constructing and performing such EU projects is important for various reasons. In Europe we still need a strong network from different industries along the values chain and institutes with different subject areas. This approach secures the development on a European infrastructure which is internationally competitive in material- and cell-development and able to transfer its results to mass production. This allows an improved product to be provided for the customer in respect of higher driving-range, reduced costs and more sustainable production processes and leads to a higher customer acceptance of electric vehicles.