According to the German government's plans, one million electric vehicles should be running on sustainably generated energy in Germany by 2020. There were still many unanswered questions surrounding the integration of electromobility and sustainable electricity grids. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy used funds from the second economic stimulus programme to set up a funding programme entitled "Key elements of electromobility in the electricity sector: storage, grids, integration". The aim of the funding initiative was to make the technologies at the interface between electromobility and sustainable electricity grids available in good time and at acceptable prices. The IZT's task was to evaluate this application-oriented programme.

Electromobility was globally recognised as a market of the future and was a topic of great strategic importance both for climate and resource protection and with regard to the position of the German economy in international competition as well as for the preservation and creation of high-quality employment. According to the German government's plans, one million electric vehicles powered by sustainably generated energy should be on the road in Germany by 2020.

The German government anchored electromobility in the Integrated Energy and Climate Programme (IEKP) of 2007 and the National Development Plan for Electromobility (NEE) of 2009, among other things. One financing instrument for funding activities for electromobility was the so-called "Economic Stimulus Package II". Among other things, this provided up to 500 million euros in funding for application-oriented research in the field of electromobility between 2009 and 2011.

The BMWi's funding initiative "Electricity industry key elements of electromobility: storage, grids, integration" addressed interfaces within the research work on electromobility. This included the grid connection of vehicles, the effects of e-mobility on electricity grids and innovative grid components and concepts. The further development of battery and fuel cell systems, production processes suitable for series production and suitable test benches were another focus of the funding.

The partial evaluation of the BMWi programme carried out by the IZT was integrated into other evaluations by other ministries and the overall evaluation of the measures funded as part of the economic stimulus package.