[ferro-alloys.com]The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to cost Germany's key auto industry about 75,000 jobs by 2030, a study released Tuesday shows, with parts suppliers set to suffer the most.

The adoption of EVs will lessen the importance of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars, an industry where German carmakers have built a reputation for decades and which currently employs about 840,000 people, with 210,000 of them working on powertrain production (basically engines and transmissions components), said the IG Metal union, which commissioned the study along with BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and a string of suppliers.

The figures in the study, carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute of Industrial Engineering, were calculated on the assumption that by 2030, a quarter of all vehicles on Germany's roads will be fully electric. Another 15% is expected to be hybrids, which combine an electric motor with a traditional internal combustion engine, and 60% of the cars will be powered by gasoline or diesel engines that are more fuel-efficient than today.

“The challenge is big, but can be mastered if the right framework conditions are created,” IG Metall’s chief, Joerg Hofmann, said in a statement. “Politicians and industry now need to develop strategies to manage this transformation.”

A more rapid adoption of electric vehicles could threaten up to 100,000 jobs, he noted, adding that regardless of the final number, there will be suppliers who won't be able to adapt their business model, especially among small- and medium-sized companies.

Whereas it takes some 4,000 workers to assemble a million gasoline-powered engines per year, just 1,840 are needed to build the same number of electric motors, the study claims. And a battery factory requires only a fifth of the workforce when compared with an engine plant.

• [Editor:王可]