National Competence Center for Electromobility under the roof of AustriaTech

The Competence Center was launched yesterday - what can the e-mobility community in Austria expect now?

P. Wieser: I am very pleased that AustriaTech has been assigned this task. I am convinced that the potential that lies in a harmonised implementation in the field of e-mobility can be realised even more quickly and efficiently. And that is immensely important, especially in this phase of the ramp-up, because there are already many initiatives and activities. What is needed now is a good exchange and a coordinated approach to the implementation of all measures. And this is exactly where we come in as a Competence Center. Networking the community is therefore a central pillar of our activities.

As the person responsible for the Competence Center: What are the first activities you will set?

At the beginning of the ramp-up, the focus was on e-vehicles - so the more non-fossil-fuel vehicles on the market, the better. But we now know that the real backbone for a successful mobility transition is the charging infrastructure and the networking with other forms of mobility. And this is exactly where the National Competence Center comes in: Some regions in Austria are still underserved. We advise municipalities on how they can proceed here and best overcome their specific challenges. In addition to a coordinated expansion, we want to ensure that access to charging infrastructure is fair and user-friendly for everyone. This concerns topics such as payment methods, price transparency or still necessary legal adjustments for a simplified installation of private charging infrastructure. But these are only a few of the many tasks we will face.

Are there also international points of contact?

Definitely! We see that there are more and more bodies in Europe that are dealing specifically with the topic of e-mobility and its ramp-up. An exchange of experiences is particularly helpful when countries are facing similar challenges or are in a similar phase of the ramp-up. This also applies to Germany and Austria, among others. Here we are already in close coordination with our neighbouring country, as the coordinated cross-border expansion of the charging infrastructure alone is a particularly important aspect. In the long run, the mobility transition can only be successfully implemented if measures are coordinated and implemented across Europe. We are pleased to be involved here with Austria's Competence Center for Electromobility.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Philipp Wieser

heads the Decarbonisation & Vehicle Technologies team at AustriaTech and has been involved in shaping the content of the National Competence Center since its inception. Through his studies in "Integrative Urban Development" at the Vienna University of Technolgy, he knows the importance of a well-developed charging infrastructure in order to embed e-mobility sustainably and socially accepted in our mobility system.