The growing popularity of electric vehicles is endangering hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany, according to a new study for the federal government. This claim is, however, strongly refuted by the German automotive industry.

Electric vehicles jeopardise jobs in the automotive industry

According to a study for the federal government by the National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM), 410.000 jobs in the automotive industry will be at risk by the end of the decade. The NPM is headed by the IG Metall trade union chairman, Jörg Hofmann, and made up of experts from various fields including politics, business, trade unions, associations and research.

According to the study, the continuing shift to electromobility could lead 88.000 jobs being lost in the production of engines and gearboxes alone. Essentially, there are at least 1.200 parts in an internal combustion engine, while there are only 200 in an electric motor. This means that as the demand for e-vehicles grows, less parts need to be manufactured, threatening many jobs.

The NPM working group has called on companies to carry out strategic planning as well as setting up qualification centres to reduce job losses. The NPM also called for companies, employment agencies and training providers to work together to keep job losses to a minimum. The study was presented to the government on Monday, just before a car summit on Wednesday.

Electric cars are here to stay

According to the EU’s climate protection objectives, the conversion to electric cars is of great importance. In fact, the German government’s own climate protection plans aim to have seven to ten million electric vehicles driving on German roads by 2030. This has hiked up the numbers in the NPM’s study, as they had not the goal to be so large.

The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has expressed deep criticism of the NPM’s high unemployment forecasts. VDA Managing Director, Kurt-Christian Scheel said, “The assumption that up to 410.000 jobs could be lost in the coming years is based on an unrealistic extreme scenario.”