Heiko Seitz is a strategic leader and board advisor helping shape smart mobility ecosystems. As a PwC Partner and Global eMobility Lead, Heiko advises governments, funds and C-suit audiences on decarbonisation, AVs, and multi-billion dollar infrastructure. We spoke to Heiko to gather his thoughts on the future path of the EV industry.
What led to your own personal interest in e-mobility?
“My journey into eMobility wasn’t a single decision – it was the result of my entire career converging. I started in the automotive sector, then moved into commodity sourcing across Africa and China, and later into oil and gas, working on large upstream and midstream infrastructure projects that were all about energy security. I spent years across the hydrocarbon value chain, from raw commodities all the way to energy delivery.
Then in 2014, when the oil price collapsed, the industry had to rethink its future. That’s when I moved into smart grids and, very early on, into the design of charging infrastructure. At that moment, something clicked. I suddenly realized that I had worked across all the pieces of the puzzle: the vehicle, the battery materials, the oil value chain, the grids, renewables and the downstream energy infrastructure. What had felt like a fragmented career suddenly made perfect sense. I wasn’t just looking at cars anymore – I was looking at a complete system transition, from oil to green electrons.
And that’s what still drives me today: helping governments, investors, and companies redesign that entire mobility and energy ecosystem in a way that is cleaner, more efficient, and also economically viable.”
What are the biggest mistakes countries are still making in their EV transition?
“The biggest mistake is treating electrification as vehicle replacement instead of a holistic ecosystem transformation. Many countries still focus on subsidies, tax incentives, or headline EV targets. But the real bottleneck is infrastructure, grid capacity, and system integration. If you don’t build reliable, visible, and affordable charging first, consumers will not follow. You can subsidize vehicles all you want – adoption will stall if charging remains a challenge or privilege.
Then the second mistake is fragmentation: different standards, regulations and business models across regions slow down scale and create unnecessary complexity.
And then lastly: underestimating the potential and role of fleets. Fleets are the anchor customers that create predictable demand, utilization and economic viability along predictable corridors. Fleets are the first movers to create a market for private consumers to follow later down the road.”
Where are we still getting charging wrong, and what does a world-class ecosystem look like?
“While fleets and consumers will always follow infrastructure, in many markets public subsidy funds still focus heavily on private vehicle incentives, while infrastructure deployment – and especially its long-term operation – remains underfunded. As a result, the build-out of functioning charging ecosystems is often slower than it should be.
To crack the code, one has to understand that charging is not a pure energy retail business. It is a long-term real-estate and utilization play. The winners will be those who can secure the right locations early, lock in long-term leases, and build future-ready high-power infrastructure. But that requires significant capital and the ability to absorb low utilization in the early and even mid-term phases, which is why usually infrastructure-focused support is critical to kick-start competitive, non-monopolistic ecosystems.
If public funding is limited, it should prioritize fleet depots, public high-power corridors and the reliable operation of nationwide networks, supported by fast permitting and smart grid integration. If we get that part right, private EV adoption will follow naturally – even without direct vehicle incentives.”
Where is smart money flowing right now – and where is it pulling back?
“When it comes to eMobility, the world is not flat and capital is moving at very different speeds across regions. Right now, there is a clear divide between markets that are going all in on electrification and those that are slowing down. China successfully executes its long-term national industrial and mobility strategies, has already passed the tipping point and continues to invest aggressively across the entire electric and increasingly also autonomous value chain, from batteries to vehicles to infrastructure. As a result, China exports increasingly affordable, high-quality EVs with longer ranges and faster charging to global markets.
In contrast, many Western OEMs are taking current US-political signals as a justification to slow the transition. That hesitation is understandable, because electrification shortens the value chain, disrupts jobs and creates painful transformation decisions in boardrooms. But the risk is very clear: postponing those tough decisions today will dramatically widen the competitiveness gap tomorrow. If the rest of the world wants to remain competitive with China, now is the time to step up and transform.
Those who delay will not just lose market share – they risk being left behind entirely, as new leaders take scale and technology leadership. In the worst case, entire national automotive supply chains could become irrelevant over time.”
How do electrification, autonomy, connectivity, and shared mobility converge into the future mobility system?
“Electrification, autonomy, connectivity, and shared mobility are often discussed separately, but they only unlock their full value when combined and in sync. Electrification changes the energy source. Connectivity turns vehicles into digital platforms. Shared mobility changes the ownership model. And autonomy fundamentally improves the economics and efficiency of the system. All these technologies build on top of each other. Electric mobility is inherently digitally integrated and perfectly suited for autonomous operations. Energy replenishment becomes part of the operating model, with seamless inductive and robotic ultra-fast charging between trips.
At the same time, autonomy is the key enabler for shared mobility. Driverless systems reshape transport’s entire cost structure, reduce accident rates dramatically, smooth traffic flow, and cut congestion. That means less time in traffic, lower costs, and a significant boost in convenience and productivity for everyday life. Once all these technologies converge, mobility becomes a democratized, always-available service – more affordable and accessible for everyone. Smarter and more sustainable mobility will help strengthen prosperity across wider parts of society and support a healthier planet for future generations.”
What are the biggest barriers holding enterprises back, and what are the smartest fleet operators doing differently?
“For most fleet operators, the main concern is not the vehicle itself – it’s uptime, predictability and total cost. Electric fleets introduce new dynamics around grid constraints, charging infrastructure locations, fleet downtime and depreciation profiles. That creates understandable hesitation, because fleets depend on reliably high utilization and stable residual values. But this is also where the biggest opportunities are emerging. We’re seeing new business models such as fleet charging as a service, battery leasing, and other risk-sharing structures. These models outsource complexity from the fleet operator and create more predictable cost structures.
From a policy perspective, this also changes how subsidies should be used. If governments want to accelerate electrification, they should prioritize fleet charging infrastructure and the operation of commercial fleets, rather than subsidizing private passenger vehicles. Fleets create utilization, utilization creates economics, and economics drives scale.
So fleet electrification is not just a vehicle transition. It’s the foundation for a new ecosystem of infrastructure, services, and investment opportunities.”
How do you see the Middle East shaping the next chapter of electrification and smart transport?
“The Middle East has a unique opportunity because many countries in the region are building their mobility and energy systems almost from scratch. That allows them to leapfrog directly into smart, electrified, and digital mobility, without going through the long and costly learning curves that other regions have experienced. And we already see that approach in action across several countries. The GCC region also tends to take a more market-driven, less subsidy-heavy approach, which can create healthier long-term economics. But if the ambition is to scale electric mobility quickly, there needs to be strong support for the creation of charging ecosystems – whether through targeted incentives or public-private partnerships focused on high-impact locations.
At the same time, the Middle East has some of the world’s best solar resources. That creates a unique opportunity not just to electrify mobility, but to truly decarbonize it by linking EV adoption with large-scale renewable energy. So, the region can move from being known primarily as a hydrocarbon powerhouse to becoming a global showcase for solar-powered, integrated mobility systems – using clean electricity at home while preserving valuable hydrocarbons for higher-value uses or export.
If the Middle East continues to combine its investment capacity, solar advantage, and infrastructure-first approach, it can become a global best-practice showcase of the transition to smart sustainable mobility.”
Looking ahead to 2035, what will define success for the global EV transition?
“Success will be defined by whether we manage to build functioning, collaborative mobility ecosystems. The transition is moving us away from linear, siloed value chains toward a model of sector convergence. Automotive, energy, utilities, infrastructure players, cities, technology firms, and fleet operators all have to work together. None of the new smart and sustainable mobility business models work in isolation.
So the real success factor will be the ability to collaborate across the ecosystem – to choose the right partners, share risks, close capability gaps, and accelerate time to market in a world where the pace of change is faster than ever.
The companies and countries that succeed will be those that are willing to reinvent their business models, enter new parts of the value chain, and build new cross-sector champions instead of trying to defend old structures. In the end, success will mean a system that is cleaner, more efficient, more affordable, and more accessible = not because of one technology, but because the entire ecosystem learned how to work together.”
Thanks to Heiko for taking part in our EV Leaders interview series.
