Porsche Prize for E-Mobility

Porsche Prize for E-Mobility

As part of a celebration at the Vienna University of Technology, this year's Porsche Prize was awarded to Thomas Ulbrich, member of the Volkswagen brand board, technical development division, for the development of the modular electric drive system (MEB for short). This time, the jury of the renowned automotive technology award chose Volkswagen AG's MEB, which for the first time offers the group brands a common platform and the basis for the production of electric vehicles in the volume segment.

Desired economies of scale

With the MEB, Volkswagen is transferring its platform concept into the electric age and also opening it up to third-party manufacturers. The MEB will be established as a global standard for e-mobility, with which individual electric mobility remains CO2-neutral, safe, comfortable and affordable and usable for as many people as possible. Due to extensive distribution and the associated economies of scale, the costs of e-mobility can be significantly reduced using the modular e-drive system. The Rector of the TU Vienna, Sabine Seidler, together with Wolfgang Porsche, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, and Hans Michel Piëch, Member of the Supervisory Board of Porsche AG, presented the Porsche Prize, worth 50,000 euros, to Thomas Ulbrich in the university's ballroom. Bernhard Geringer, head of the Institute for Vehicle Drives and Automotive Technology at the Vienna University of Technology, said in his laudatory speech: "The cost-effective standardization of production and the economies of scale associated with the extensive distribution of the MEB will significantly reduce the price of e-mobility. Sustainable individual mobility will thus become affordable for a large group of customers without having to forego the usual comfort and driving pleasure."