Professor Friedrich Indra is one of the most vocal critics of electric mobility. He started his career at Alpina and Audi before moving to General Motors in Detroit, where he eventually took over responsibility for advanced engineering in powertrain operations. He retired in 2005 but continues to work as a scholar and an advisor to the automotive industry.
We asked him for a take on the current discussion surrounding the move to electric vehicles, which has taken a sharper tone since Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller recently called for fewer government subsidies for diesels and more for EVs. In Indra’s view, not only are EVs more expensive than and inferior to conventional cars, they also do not solve environmental problems.
Car and Driver: Professor Indra, at last year’s Vienna Motor Symposium you asked VW CEO Matthias Müller how he would manage to sell two to three million electric cars per year from 2025 and make money at the same time. Friedrich Indra [laughs]: I remember that well. He had flown in from the auto show in Shanghai and said, in so many words, ?There are so many young people who will buy them all.? And that was the end of the announcement. How can Mr. Müller say something like that" Maybe he did so because he has already has written off the German market. In 2020, after 10 years of campaigning, instead of the expected one million, [Germany] will not even have 100,000 electric cars on the road.
C/D: Surely China will drive the s...