Philippe Vangeel, the secretary-general of the European Association for Electromobility (AVERE), tells us Europe is doing particularly well on electric mobility, based on data from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. This is not the case in all countries, of course, but western countries are the ones performing better in this sphere. Philippe Vangeel stated at this conference that Europe is moving faster in electrifying transport than was forecast five years ago by agencies such as Bloomberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason why there hasn\u2019t been a broader uptake of e-mobility is not, according to Vangeel, because of technological issues. In terms of the industry, \u201cthe technology is there, we know how the infrastructure has to be, we know how it should be rolled out, we know that the vehicles are autonomous for more kilometres than ten years ago. Everything is in place.\u201d It seems, therefore, that it\u2019s up to policy-makers to decide how fast they want to switch to e-mobility. \u201cThat\u2019s an important signal. Once we know this, the industry can adapt its production lines. We need policy-makers, at regional, national and European level, to let us know which way they want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coincidentally, the day of the conference was the day the European Parliament approved a proposal by the Commission to prohibit the sale of vehicles with an internal combustion engine from 2035, effectively only allowing sales of new electric vehicles. The text adopted includes interim goals proposed by the European Commission: a 15% reduction in car emissions by 2025 and a 55% reduction by 2030. It is worth remembering that transport is one of the largest causes of CO2 emissions in the EU, with cars alone accounting for 12% of total greenhouse gas emissions. \u201cOf course this refers to Europe, but don\u2019t forget that this is also already happening at national level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The country which has taken the biggest strides towards adopting e-mobility is Norway, where you will only be able to buy electric vehicles by 2025. According to Vangeel, this was \u2013 once again – achieved by policy-makers creating strong incentives ten years ago, namely slashing VAT by 25%, and also providing free toll roads and free parking. \u201cThis made people really think about buying an electric vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n