The market for electric vehicles is growing rapidly in the United States. In 2022, electric vehicle sales reached 6.6 million, up from 3.2 million in 2021. This growth is being driven by a number of factors, including government incentives, falling battery prices, and increasing consumer awareness of the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.

Growth in the electric vehicle market is putting a strain on the country’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure. In 2023, there are over 160,000 electric vehicle chargers in the United States, yet this is still not enough to meet the needs of the growing electric vehicle fleet. As a result, the US has set itself the goal of installing around 500,000 public electric vehicle chargers by 2030!

The trip brought 16 selected representatives from the German electric mobility and charging infrastructure sector to the United States. It united key stakeholders from both sides of the Atlantic to share knowledge and best practices and discuss innovative, sustainable, and future-proof solutions.

The Michigan program kicked off with a discussion with a panel of experts from the fields of science, research and development on the topic of “The Future of Mobility.” We also visited the Ford Rouge Factory, which gave us the opportunity to experience the manufacturing process of a Ford vehicle in the historic Rouge complex.

The Newlab at Michigan Central, which is home to more than 250 tech startups and over 1,000 entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and visionaries who are working together to address challenges in the energy, mobility and materials sectors, was also one of the many highlights.

In Columbus, Ohio, we visited the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University and were able to get some input at Acculon Energy, a company specializing in advanced battery design, engineering and prototyping that is a leader in the electrification of industrial and commercial OEMs.

We also had a great day at Rivian Automotive. Founded in 2009, Rivian is an electric vehicle company that is producing the R1T pickup, R1S SUV and EDV for Amazon in its 3.3 million square foot facility in Normal, Illinois. In an exclusive preview, we had the opportunity to see and test the cars and their many features.

We also took a trip to Heartland Community College, which is a leader in electric vehicle training. The college’s program prepares future generations for the demands of the emerging field of manufacturing, diagnosing, maintaining and repairing electric-powered vehicles.

My visit to Lion Electric in particular was a personal highlight, as it allowed me to fulfill a small childhood dream.

They are known for their environmentally friendly electric school buses, shuttles and delivery vans with low operating costs, and I was able to drive an American school bus. Not only was it special to drive such a bus, but also that it was fully electric!

In the US, there are approximately 480,000 yellow school buses, which have an ideal usage profile – they only drive in the morning and afternoon! Their range is up to 170 miles, covering almost all driving profiles.

The special thing about the bus is that it is vehicle-to-grid (or vehicle-to-x) capable and enables bidirectional charging without any problems. That means that peaks can also be balanced out in schools, for example when the school cafeteria has a high energy demand.

Fun Fact: Depending on the variant, the bus costs around 600,000 USD, which is almost three times as much as a combustion-powered bus. Nevertheless, all the major manufacturers of yellow buses are going down the route of electrification.

The positive developments here are simply incredible!

The final stop was the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. It is a multidisciplinary science and engineering research center where talented scientists and engineers work together to answer some of humanity’s most important questions, from how to produce affordable clean energy to how to protect ourselves and our environment.

The topic of sustainability was once again given a high profile here. It is currently one of the most important issues in mobility and deserves attention and interest!

Our trip to the delegation was a complete success and provided us with an incredible amount of new knowledge and experiences! We attended various very interesting networking events with stakeholders and company representatives, political decision-makers, R&D, academics and industry representatives. Overall, it was very inspiring and I would do it again in a heartbeat!