Electromobility – also known as e-mobility - is the principle of using electric propulsion for a wide range of transportation types. This includes cars, buses, trucks and off-road vehicles, as well as ships, ferries and other sea going vessels.

E-mobility allows us to move away from CO2-emitting fossil fuels towards energy supplied from electrical power sources which are, in turn, charged through the electricity grid. By decarbonizing the transport sector, electromobility will create a cleaner, healthier and more affordable future for everyone.

E-mobility has benefits at many levels from the global, to the personal. At the global level, the electrification of transport helps curb climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

As transport currently accounts for around 30% of global final energy demand, the potential for decarbonization is huge. And to meet the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, electrifying public and private transport on land and at sea is inevitable.

Generally speaking, electric vehicles cost less to run over their lifetime than traditional cars with combustion engines. This reduced cost stems largely from taxation regimes, fewer moving parts, and lower fuel costs. Additional benefits of an e-mobility solution for your car include improved driving performance, reduced noise pollution, and the ability to provide services to the power system and buildings by using their batteries (and generation capacity in the case of fuel cell cars) – which you may actually earn from.

Reducing the transport emissions of fossil fuel powered combustion engines through e-mobility will lead to more sustainable, livable cities while protecting our climate. It is a must for meeting the Paris Agreement ambition, improving air quality and achieving CO2 neutrality.

Take London for example: To reach the desired 1.5°C level, two-thirds of London’s passenger cars and all buses must be fossil fuel free and running on electricity by 2050. Buses must achieve this even earlier. This would relieve Londoners of annual transport emissions amounting to 1.7kt NOX, which equals 5,000 million diesel car kilometers.

With growing urbanization, cities are becoming increasingly important. Cities already account for up to 70% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. And with a world population expected to reach 8.6 billion people in 2030 and 70% of people expected to live in cities by 2050, we need to find a way to create more sustainable, livable cities.

For over three decades, Danfoss has been helping enable zero emission driving. By providing cutting-edge power modules which are integrated into a vehicle’s drivetrain, leading automotive manufacturers are able to deliver electric vehicle solutions that meet stringent efficiency and reliability targets.

These solutions are transforming the adoption of electric transportation and making hybrid and pure electric vehicles a natural and sustainable choice for everyone.

Electrification will be a key trend in off-highway vehicles as ever-stricter emissions standards are introduced and efforts are made to reduce emissions. However, electrification of off-road vehicles is currently happening at a much slower rate than on-road vehicles. In 2050, electrification is expected to range from 34% in US to 41% in Europe. (Navigant report).

Danfoss Editron is changing how the world moves with hybrid and electric powertrain systems for heavy duty vehicles and machines. Read more about Editron or watch an ET Talk by our Senior Systems Engineer, Simon Nielsen, about the solutions available today.

Environmentally, the best thing is to go fully electric in the entire vessel. However, battery technology for fully electric ships is not well developed enough for either larger vessels or smaller boats that go for long distances.

For high power large vessels, today’s battery technology cannot cope with the power demand. These large vessels sail for long distances without the opportunity to charge. They also face more dangerous conditions which require immediate power when needed. This means they cannot yet sail fully on batteries.

Smaller vessels are typically the ones who sail near coastal areas, and since they frequently enter harbors it is easy for them to charge. This means smaller vessels can all become electric ships. In addition to cutting emissions and reducing costs, electric ships lower noise levels and vibrations, benefitting both people and the marine environment.

Electric shipping is one of the keys to a zero-emissions future. New projects are being launched every day and improved technology and products with optimized performance and efficiency are being made more readily available.

There is a tremendous potential in electrifying water transport, both in terms of electric-powered vessels and shore supply. Shore supply provides vessels with electric power from the land grid to charge batteries while in port. It also supplies electricity from local grids to fossil fuel powered vessels. So instead of using onboard diesel generators to power the ship at berth, shore supply can be used. This gives significantly less local air and noise pollution and as ports are often located close to urban environments, this is great news for local residents.

• Danfoss supplies power modules to cars and currently our modules are in more than 40 million cars.
• Danfoss has joined the Climate Group initiative EV100 and aims at transitioning all company cars to all-electric by 2030 at the latest, if infrastructure becomes available. That means appr. 2,500 company cars will be replaced with EVs.
• We will onboard EV ambassadors in select countries and establish charging infrastructures for company cars, customers and employees in homes and at all locations. So far, Sweden has been approved as a pilot country with Germany, Netherlands, France, Austria and Norway next in line.

Read about our goals:

• Carbon-neutral Danfoss
• Danfoss targets CO2 neutrality latest by 2030