ABB CEO: ‘It’s time to move to electric vehicles’

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the CEO of the Swedish/Swiss technology group ABB, Björn Rosengren, says that the time has definitely come to buy an electric car. The development of charging infrastructure is gaining momentum, so the biggest hurdle is disappearing.

“Due to Covid-19, I’ve been unable to travel to China recently,”says Rosengren, “but in October, I will definitely return. China is still an important motor in the worldwide economy, also for sustainable technologies, and the electric car is one of them. We see that it is now being sold worldwide and in Europe.”

“I didn’t drive electric cars recently, but in earlier jobs, I lived in China and enjoyed driving them. They were also very competitively priced, and that’s still the case.”

Charging infrastructure

Especially in Europe, individual car buyers are still hesitating to buy an electric car because of doubts about the availability of charging infrastructure. Rosengren trusts that these are problems of the past.

“The development of charging infrastructure is in a new phase. That’s what we also see in our own figures. Our E-Mobility department has noticed a 75% increase in demand during Q2. “We can also see that the choice of interesting  (and more affordable) EVs is steadily increasing. In my opinion, the availability of ICE car models will shrink accordingly in the coming years.”

The time for EVs  has come

“I think now is the time to go for an EV. We will also change the entire fleet of ABB into electrically driven as soon as possible. I’ve already been driving an EV for many years. When I was still living in Sweden, it was an Audi. Here in Switzerland, I drive a Porsche Taycan. It’s far more enjoyable to drive an electric car than one with a combustion engine.”

Going IPO?

Meanwhile, the E-Mobility department, and especially the development of charging infrastructure, has become an important feat in the ABB group. However, the department’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been postponed. Will this be something for next year?

“We are not in a hurry. The stock exchange is what it is. I noticed that companies specializing in electromobility have had some financial difficulties when they went IPO. The competition is fierce, and the number of competitors is still growing.”

“For me, there are two conditions to be filled for an IPO: the business must be at its highest level, and the financial market has to be strong. We will see when we are completely ready to go.”