Markus Hernier, Bosch: “We definitely need technology neutrality to reach our target of CO2 neutrality”

“Every now and then it is good to reflect on what we are doing, based on society’s needs, people’s needs. But at the end of the day, acceptance is very important when we talk about adopting a new technology.

C02 neutrality is one of the biggest topics at the moment in energy-related industries, it is a worldwide topic.

The automotive industry is an international business and we cannot define solutions here in Romania by not looking at what is going on in the world. This is the reason Bosch has such a wide product portfolio in green technologies.

When we look into electrification, a lot of discussions are around electric vehicles. From our point view, electrification starts from mild-hybrid, strong-hybrid, plug-in hybrid to electric vehicles with all these different technologies that we strongly believe are needed because of this acceptance factor,” Markus Hernier, Vice president, Head of Engineering for Powertrain Solutions Division, Bosch Engineering Center Cluj said during Green Mobility Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest and Automotive Today.

“In Cluj we are working on this entire value chain, not only on electric vehicles but also on combustion-related vehicles. Bosch is providing the entire product portfolio based on market trends. In the future we will have a variety of products and technologies on the automotive market, not only combustion engines, but also electrification. We also need the introduction of hydrogen. We are required to cover the market with different technologies to ensure acceptance from the customers.

We definitely need technology neutrality to reach our target of CO2 neutrality. That is why Bosch is not focusing on a single technology, because we will not reach our customers this way.

Technological neutrality plays a key role to achieve the 2035 goals of CO₂-neutral mobility in the EU, that is why all technologies achieving CO₂ reduction in the mobility sector should be acknowledged within the CO₂ fleet targets.”

In Bosch’s vision, only with hydrogen can there be a climate-neutral world. For Bosch, that is crystal-clear. The company therefore strongly advocates the establishment of a hydrogen economy and is involved in all stages of the hydrogen value chain. Bosch is developing technological solutions for the production and use of hydrogen. In this way, Bosch wants to open new business.

By 2030, Bosch plans to generate sales of 5 billion euros with hydrogen technologies. Each year, Bosch will invest some 500 million euros in the development and manufacturing of its hydrogen technologies.

Hydrogen will not replace or slow down the electrification of transport or buildings but will facilitate CO2 reductions in addition to those resulting from direct electrification.