Is the future of automobiles all electric?

When Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn – certainly one of the most important men in the automotive world – says that all the machines from the VW stable will soon be ‘rolling smart phones’ you sit up and listen. When a Lamborghini takes centre stage and then demurely disappears back stage without even clearing its throat, you’re almost deafened by the silence. When Porsche talks about charging times rather than acceleration times, you take a step back. See our Frankfurt Motor Show coverage for details.

It’s no surprise, then, when Dr. Winterkorn goes on to say that more speed and power is no longer the answer. Connectivity, automation, and ‘fun with e-mobility’ is the currency of the future. Perhaps he threw in the term ‘fun’ to placate dinosaurs like us – enthusiasts that is!

He says it’s not that the passion for cars has reduced, but peoples’ passions are changing. And to meet these changing needs, the VW Group is going to pursue electric mobility “with the same level of passion with which they pursued perfect panel gaps.” To paraphrase: their cars stand for lasting values – and their aim is to create cars for the digital world!

He goes on to say that the fact that the big IT firms are looking at cars just goes to show the opportunities in the sector. Well, I suppose the automotive industry doesn’t want to underestimate the technology companies the way they did with Tesla. And they certainly don’t want to do so in the case of Apple. After all, with $20 billion in cash burning a crater in their pocket, Apple could well buy out any of the automotive giants and still have enough money left over to buy everyone a caviar and champagne lunch to celebrate afterwards.

So, it seems, that the future is electric and connected – and not necessarily high revving and sonorous. The message is quite simple really – if you have that Akrapovich exhaust on your Christmas list, you’d better hurry. It’s an all-out assault on the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine). For the first time, I can actually hear the undertaker’s bell tolling. The silver lining, perhaps, is that the automotive industry is finally truly looking ahead – and that may just help it avoid a similar fate to the engine that’s powered it for so long...