Volkswagen hires utility executive to lead electric charging unit

Volkswagen has hired Elke Temme, a long-time executive at Germany's top utility RWE, to head the carmaker's newly created division for energy and electric vehicle charging, it said on Monday.

Temme's move is the latest illustration of the growing convergence of the autos and energy sectors amid an expected boom in demand for electric vehicles.

Most recently, Temme was chief operating officer of Innogy eMobility solutions. Innogy was carved out from RWE in 2016 and later broken up in an asset swap with E.ON, which acquired the firm's emobility activities in the process.

She will be in charge of pooling and managing existing group activities in the fields of energy, charging services, charging equipment and charging infrastructure across all brands, Volkswagen said.

"With Elke Temme, we have won a proven expert in the fields of energy and charging for our company," Volkswagen board member Thomas Schmall said in a statement.