Change at the top of the Charging and Energy Business Unit

Elke Temme, who leads the Charging and Energy Business Unit with the brands Elli and Electrify America and bundles the Group’s global activities on charging infrastructure and energy services within the Group’s Technology Division, is stepping down from her duties with immediate effect. For private reasons, Temme is taking a three-month sabbatical and will then be available to the company part time until the end of the year. The new SVP Charging and Energy will be Giovanni Palazzo, who is responsible for the North American DC-charging network Electrify America as President and CEO since 2018. Due to this change he will become chairman of the Electrify America board effective February 15, 2023.

Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board Member for Technology and CEO of Volkswagen Group Components: “Elke Temme has made the charging and energy services business an important pillar of the Group’s future. We regret her stepping down, but support her decision with the deepest conviction. With Giovanni Palazzo, we have been able to gain a top expert who is recognised worldwide. Giovanni Palazzo has already been part of the management team in recent years and has made a major contribution to the development of the business field. He stands for expertise, continuity and vision and will continue to drive our strategy forward.”

Giovanni Palazzo was previously President and CEO of Electrify America, building the largest public fast-charging network in the US. Before joining Electrify America, Palazzo spent seven years with the Volkswagen Group, most recently as Head of E-mobility Strategy, where he led relevant e-mobility activities for the Group on a global level. Prior to that, he held various roles at Mercedes-Benz and Daimler AG related to e-mobility and charging.

Elke Temme has managed the Charging and Energy business field since the beginning of 2021 and has significantly expanded the Volkswagen Group’s activities in this area. Before Temme joined Volkswagen, she came from the energy company RWE/innogy, where she had held various positions for 18 years. There, Temme was COO of innogy eMobility solutions GmbH, an independent company under the umbrella of innogy SE that sold cloud-based software solutions and AC and DC charging hardware to B2B partners.