Panasonic Industry Takes Action in Driving Europe’s Net-Zero Goals

Panasonic has welcomed experts from across the sector to address key issues
around the future of electric vehicle technology and its effects on
decarbonisation.

The Livestream held on 17th March 2022, “Driving Net-Zero: How electronic
components are essential for green mobility”, highlighted the development of
the electric vehicle (EV) sector which relies on quality components that not
only address current requirements but also meet the needs of future growth.

Panasonic is leading the way in preparing for the future of e-mobility, and
earlier this year set out its Green Impact strategy, a wide-reaching reform
to develop solutions addressing climate change in regards to energy and
resource use/circular economy. All with the aim to drive forward
sustainability and cut carbon emissions to zero by 2030 in its own
operations. To address the key issues impacting the sector, Panasonic
invited to the stage: Professor Markus Lienkamp, Technical University of
Munich; Matthias Schmidt, European Automotive & E-mobility Researcher;
Johannes Spatz, President Panasonic Industry Europe; Alexander
Schultz-Storz, Director, Cross Value and Open Innovation Division, Panasonic
Industry Europe; and Pascal Lieberherr, Project Manager System Design &
Controls Team at Rowesys.

Demand for electric vehicles has been rising steadily in recent years.
According to Matthias Schmidt, BEV pure electric new car volumes surpassed
new diesel car volumes for the first month ever during December 2021 across
Western Europe. Due to the impact of the ongoing war and its effect on the
rising diesel price these last two weeks, the shift to EVs is forecast to
accelerate even more. He then detailed his data on electric vehicle
implementation and examined the fluctuations of EV demand from country to
country.

According to Professor Markus Lienkamp, some of the major trends in the
electric vehicle take-up include carbon reduction policies, air quality in
urban centres and the key issues driving the technical developments of new
power train technologies in compact-class cars up to 2030.

Panasonic’s Johannes Spatz outlined Panasonic’s ambitious global plans to
drive net-zero by becoming carbon-neutral by 2030 – a massive undertaking
with 250 factories worldwide and more than 240,000 employees. Within
Panasonic Industry Europe and his direct area of influence at 16 different
European locations, his carbon footprint analysis showed that over 80% of
emissions were caused by transportation and distribution from the time
products and components are shipped from the factories to customers. An area
which is in big need of cleaner mobility.

Alexander Schultz-Storz of Panasonic lifted the lid on the importance of
component development and spoke in detail about innovation and the
digitalization of future mobility. He also introduced how the agriculture
sector held many opportunities in robotics to drive carbon reduction in
global food production, increasing efficiency and tackling the growing issue
of ageing farmers.

Pascal Lieberherr from the Rowesys project concluded the presentations by
further exploring the necessity for technology within the agriculture
sector. The Rowesys robot, Rosie, removes weeds reducing the need for
herbicides and conserving limited labour resources via automation.

About the Panasonic Group
A global leader in developing innovative technologies and solutions for
wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive,
industry, communications, and energy sectors worldwide, the Panasonic Group
switched to an operating company system on April 1, 2022, with Panasonic
Holdings Corporation serving as a holding company and eight companies
positioned under its umbrella. Founded in 1918, the Group is committed to
enhancing the well-being of people and society and conducts its businesses
based on founding principles applied to generate new value and offer
sustainable solutions for today’s world. The Group reported consolidated net
sales of Euro 54.02 billion (6,698.8 billion yen) for the year ended March
31, 2021. Devoted to improving the well-being of people, the Panasonic Group
is united in providing superior products and services to help you Live Your
Best.

To learn more about the Panasonic Group, please visit:
https://holdings.panasonic/global/