Controversial Electric Car Study: TUM Researchers Explain Their Disagreements
Image: VW (symbolic image)
A study conducted by the CirculaTUM research consortium at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on vehicle CO₂ emissions has sparked public controversy. It was commissioned by TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann ahead of upcoming political decisions regarding the future of the automotive industry in Europe. Criticism focused particularly on the communication surrounding the study and on interpretations that, according to one of the authors, were hardly supported by its actual content.
Markus Lienkamp, a professor of vehicle engineering at TUM who was not involved in the study, publicly criticized his colleague and lead author Johannes Fottner harshly. He raised objections regarding aspects such as the scope, readability, and level of detail, describing the study elsewhere as “old wine in not particularly attractive bottles.” In a later interview with Merkur, Lienkamp said he would likely have phrased his criticism more gently in retrospect.
Lienkamp attributed his sharp reaction mainly to the communication from TUM and the subsequent reporting. He also said he received the study just before its publication and had little time to read it. Fottner, on the other hand, emphasized that an open scientific discourse is upheld at the university and that, in his view, the study rather supports Lienkamp’s years of work than contradicts it.
The selection of the participating scientists was also controversial. Lienkamp criticized the fact that several colleagues from fields such as vehicle engineering, battery technology, manufacturing, hydrogen, and energy technology were not included. Fottner explained that the team was deliberately assembled so that the research remains free of technology considerations, with few exceptions, and does not focus specifically on electric mobility.
Criticism of the press release and political interpretation
Fottner strongly opposed the political interpretation that the study indicated an end to the planned, now scaled back, EU ban on internal combustion engines. When asked whether this was the study’s conclusion, he replied, “No, absolutely not.” He also critically assessed the widely publicized claim that electric drives reduce a vehicle’s lifetime emissions by 41 percent, stating that he had urged in several contributions to remove the word “only.”
Lienkamp pointed out a discrepancy especially between the study’s findings and public communications. He described the analysis itself as fairly objective and as a meta-study of publications from 2020 to 2026. Fottner, on the other hand, said that the main problem was an inaccurate preliminary report by Bild am Sonntag. Neither the researchers involved nor the press office informed the newspaper in advance about the study or its German summary.
Fottner emphasizes considering the entire life cycle of a vehicle, not just its operational phase. According to him, sustainability opportunities should be taken into account throughout the entire value chain. Lienkamp referred to a book published three years earlier, in which he also criticized, per his own words, the current accounting practice of setting the CO₂ emissions of electric vehicles at zero, and called for smaller electric cars.
Lienkamp advocates for maintaining the “internal combustion engine ban” planned by the EU starting in 2035, citing investments by Europe’s automotive industry and its goal of having 50 percent electric vehicles by 2030. Fottner, on the other hand, simply clarifies that the call to end the ban cited by Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) is not included in the study. Despite their professional disagreement, both describe their personal relationship as still good.
Also interesting
About the author
Thomas Langenbucher is an expert in electromobility with experience in the automotive and financial industries. Since 2011, he has been covering electric vehicles, sustainable technologies, and mobility solutions for ecomento.de. Learn more.
Reader interactions