Three years after starting the project all partners of the EleNa project met on March 7th, 2012 in Schorndorf (birth place of Gottlieb Daimler). The project’s closing event was dedicated to wrap-up experiences and results and to demonstrate the successful cooperation amongst the group of 13 partners. EleNa was funded within the German recovery package II by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) as part of the pilot region e-mobility Region Stuttgart.The consortium developed the prototype of a electrification kit for diesel vans (conversion to parallel hybrid).

The consortium consisting of small and medium enterprises and three public research organisations demonstrated the competencies of automotive suppliers in electric drive train development. “EleNa partners substantiated competence and willingness to cooperate of automotive suppliers in Baden-Württemberg”, complimented Peter Hofelich, Commissioner for SMEs and crafts at the Ministry of Finances and Economy Baden-Württemberg.

Gottlieb Daimler (alias Karl-Otto Völker) himself conducted through the history of automotive inventions before the consortium met to present the project’s results. Volker Schiek (Kompetenznetzwerk Mechatronik, responsible for dissemination and communication) and Martin Naumann (Fraunhofer IPA, project coordinator) highlighted the need to re-invent the automobile in order to cover environmental and mobility needs of the future.