The new EPTS Congress: These are the highlights

What makes the EPTS Congress so significant?

On October 8 and 9, the EPTS Congress was held for the first time in its new form in Karlsruhe. Three independent events were combined into a 'major event', emphasizing the importance of topics related to electromobility. The PEM of RWTH Aachen, the WBK of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and the FAPS chair of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg represent the who's who of the German research landscape on electromobility topics.

In his opening speech, Professor Jürgen Fleischer, chair holder of the WBK at KIT, emphasized how important it is for the development of electromobility that all institutes and the industry work together. Therefore, the event is not just a congress but a platform to bring all parties together. This was successful, considering the approximately 250 participants.

Jürgen Betz, head of manufacturing engineering global powersystems at Daimler Truck AG, explains how important it is to focus on both battery-electric drives and fuel cells. According to Betz, it is imperative to reduce CO2 emissions. However, diesel trucks are still necessary to continue financing the development towards electromobility and fuel cell technology. After all, there is still a high demand for diesel commercial vehicles worldwide. "Flexible, scalable production systems are key in these times," Betz emphasizes.

Networks and partnerships here as a big plus

Richard Bargsten from Mahle talks about how the German industry indeed has good chances in the global markets. He emphasizes that in China there is a different understanding of how markets develop and what customer requirements are. The recurring question of price reductions every few months must also be addressed, otherwise, customers will be lost. Proactive action is required, and one must recognize what the customer wants. Thus, the development times of new products must also be significantly shortened.

However, there are good opportunities for the German industry by "joining together in our excellent network here," Bargsten emphasizes. In line with Charles Darwin, it should be noted that it is not the largest and most intelligent companies that survive, but those that can best adapt to the conditions. "Our customers cannot support us based on past collaboration. Because then we will go down together," Bargsten stresses. Despite all the talk about higher speed, one must not forget, Bargsten concludes: "Quality still matters."

Solutions for the German industry in e-mobility

Professor Achim Kampker from the PEM chair at RWTH Aachen describes solutions for the German industry around the topic of electromobility. In this country, there is often talk of high energy prices, high wages, and a certain 'overengineering'. “Meanwhile, the USA is successful by pushing new technologies and investing a lot of capital. China's success is based on the fact that the state controls and also executes,” describes Kampker.

It is striking that Germany is still among the top 10 in patents everywhere, but no longer in products. “From this, we must conclude that our first thought must be what the customer actually wants,” says Kampker.

He also emphasizes that start-up companies in this country need to be better supported - for example, following the model of the USA, where this is very successful. “Ultimately, innovative ideas must be put into practice,” says the chair holder. Innovative products also need more process efficiency, for which machine learning and artificial intelligence must be integrated.

Production costs under pressure

Karsten Müller, Executive Vice President Manufacturing at Robert Bosch GmbH, says: “Our business must become weatherproof. While the market for electromobility is stalling in Europe, development in China is even above the forecast. Because market prices are also falling, we must reduce production costs here to be able to survive in the market at all.” The way companies in Europe produce is no longer competitive. Thus, the costs for the final assembly line in Europe are 30 to 50 percent higher than in China. “Meanwhile, the systems in China run excellently - with good quality. The safety of the machines and systems is also perfect. Therefore, we must rely on the minimum viable machine. This is an important aspect to reduce costs,” says Müller.

Dieter Kiefer, managing director of Marsilli Deutschland GmbH, talks in his presentation about market turbulence and how the German industry can handle it: "Flexibility is absolutely necessary." It may be that customer demand suddenly decreases for some reason. "We have to leave the comfort zone," emphasizes Kiefer. Long-established production steps must also be questioned to replace them with flexible systems. It is important that "we cannot wait for someone to push us," says Kiefer. Ultimately, nothing is predictable anymore.

How do lasers, AI & data drive production forward?

Günter Ambrosy, global business development - battery at Trumpf, talks about the topic 'Laser power meets quality'. He emphasizes that laser applications play a major role in battery production. "In addition to improving quality and throughput, lasers must also become more efficient and greener," explains Ambrosy. A current technology trend is from the 'top-terminal battery' to the 'side-terminal battery'. "By changing the joint connection, we achieve a time saving of 15 to 20 percent," calculates Ambrosy. AI is also increasingly being used for quality control of every weld seam. "This ensures that no unfinished component leaves the machine," explains Ambrosy.

Matthias Schneider, sales development at Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions, speaks of a 'competitive battery production' and points out what matters today: "It makes us successful to work in partnerships and networks." One must also keep in mind that the battery has the highest value in the vehicle. According to Schneider, all data is also a significant aspect: "You need the data to be able to monitor and improve the entire manufacturing process."

What does the third revolution in automotive production look like?

Professor Jörg Franke concludes the EPTS Congress with his lecture on the third revolution in automotive production. "In the currently shrinking market, competition is becoming tougher due to new entrants, especially from China, increasing market power of suppliers, such as batteries, sensors, or processors, rising purchasing power of major customers, and more complex mobility," says Franke. The third revolution in automotive production will be driven by software definition, standardized vehicle platforms based on structurally integrated batteries, division of vehicles into assembly modules with dedicated zonal computer architectures, and parallelization of vehicle final assembly in the so-called unboxing concept. The use of humanoid robots is also being advanced by many car manufacturers, such as Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, and Hyundai. "This combination of disruptive production and construction technology will revolutionize the automotive industry and improve key performance indicators, such as productivity, costs, investments, and lead times, by a factor of 2," explains Franke.

Production technologies and systems for electromobility

The event focuses on production technologies and systems for the electromobility of tomorrow. Key topics include battery cell manufacturing, power electronics, electric motors, hydrogen technologies, as well as circular economy and AI in production. The congress alternates annually between the locations of Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, and Aachen - next year on 8th and 9th December 2026 in Nuremberg.