The road to a German Green Party win may be filled with electric vehicles — ironically, due to Merkel’s pulling the plug.
Following its surprisingly strong showing in the nation’s recent parliamentary election — it achieved its best results ever in a national election, garnering almost 15% of the vote — the Party stands a high probability of becoming part of Germany’s new government coalition.
If the Green Party were to prevail, it would go green big time, putting pedal to the metal to achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a lofty 70% come 2030 — up aggressively from the previous government’s 55% target. To accomplish this goal, incoming leadership will need to push the needle on accelerating renewable energy production. Given that the Greens are envisioning Germany becoming an electric vehicle (EV) hub both in Europe and globally, the race is very clearly on.
A POTENTIAL ‘GAME-CHANGER’
“If the new government were to legislate renewable-energy mandates that were of the magnitude to bring greenhouse gas emissions down an astronomical 70%, it would be a game-changer for the EV fluids industry,” observes Sharbel Luzuriaga, a project manager in our Energy sector.
Registrations of full electric cars under the previous administration increased more than 300% in June 2021 compared to the same month last year, according to Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority. These additional 33,420 new EVs boosted the segment to a 12.2% share of automobile registrations. Registrations of plug-in hybrid cars nearly tripled to 31,314 during the same time period, garnering an 11.4% share of the total. There are currently more than 930,000 pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars on Germany’s roads. Substantial Green-Party-fueled increases in these numbers would translate into a whole lot of EV fluid.
POSSIBLE VICTORY LAPS FOR WHICH COMPANIES?
“Global majors Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies are the front-runners,” says Luzuriaga. “They each have a comprehensive portfolio of customized EV fluids, strategic tie-ups, and advanced levels of R&D efforts in the area of EV formulation. They’re able to retain their competitive positions by targeting the factory-fill business, as part of global factory-fill supply agreements.”
WHO’S GUNNING THEIR MOTORS?
With an eye on the market, Croda, Engineered Fluids, Lubrizol, 3M, and M&I Materials — even though they are not oil companies or purely lubricant companies — have launched new ranges of dielectric liquids for immersion cooling of EV batteries. These fluids could also find
application in thermal management of data centers/server farms, potentially boosting demand even higher. Advises Luzuriaga, “Also keep your eye on independent regional lubricant marketers such as FUCHS, ENEOS, Idemitsu Kosan, and Valvoline — they’ve also joined the elite EV fluids pack.”
Adds Luzuriaga, “The electric vehicles market will predominantly be factory-fill, with fewer opportunities expected in the service-fill category. Genuine oils will gain traction in the emerging EV populations.”
You’ll find our recently published report, Electric Vehicle Fluids Report: Market Analysis and Opportunities — Consumer Volume particularly timely, with the potential boom in Germany’s electric vehicle market, which will also drive growth in demand for EV fluids in other regions of the world.
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About this blog:
EV Advancements: Germany’s Autobahn Is About to Get Truly Electrifying features insights from Sharbel Luzuriaga, project manager in Kline’s Energy sector. With a PhD in Macromolecular Chemistry, he is based in Kline’s Prague office in the Czech Republic.
During his 14 years at Kline, Luzuriaga has been responsible for managing a variety of the firm’s flagship energy reports in the areas of finished lubricants, lubricant basestocks, lubricant additives, and bio-lubricants. Drawing upon extensive and practical experience working in the industry, he has also delivered numerous presentations internationally.
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