NOS This will soon only be possible in dozens of city centers with electric vans
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 06:27
Charlotte Klein
editor Economics
Charlotte Klein
editor Economics
Certain regulations and exceptions make it attractive for entrepreneurs to quickly stock up on diesel buses before 2025, when many city centers have to be supplied by emission-free vans. This puts pressure on the effect of these so-called zero-emission zones in the first period.
This is evident from a market survey by energy company Joulz. It is confirmed by entrepreneurs and figures from the Bovag and the RAI Association.
What is a zero emission zone?
In the Dutch Climate Agreement (2019), governments and companies agreed to set up zones in which freight traffic purchased new after January 1, 2025 may not emit CO2. There are various transitional arrangements for different types of freight traffic until 2030. That list is not yet finalized: was recently introduced in the House of Representatives another exception agreed.
The zones should lead to cleaner and quieter inner cities. The intended effect is to reduce CO2 emissions and particulate matter.
Previously, a tour by the NOS revealed the concerns of municipalities and entrepreneurs about the upcoming legislation, such as a full power grid, higher costs and no charging places. The municipality of Amsterdam did not even adhere to its own rules, and asked in a tender for waste trucks, quickly switch to diesel trucks.
The capital is not alone in this, notes Joulz, a company that arranges the electricity supply for 20,000 business customers. When it received few requests in recent months to prepare companies for the switch to electric vehicles, it scratched its head. And so it started asking customers why those requests weren’t coming.
What turned out? “Almost no one was really concerned with electrification,” says Joulz boss Sytse Zuidema. “There are a lot of opportunities not to start yet, and so they are being taken advantage of.”
Four more years of traveling around
One of these options, for example, is that new diesel vans and trucks purchased before 2025 may continue to drive until 2028. The electric share of trucks is very small: this year, 1 in 30 (new and old) trucks purchased was electric.
The market share of electric vans is increasing faster. But according to Zuidema, it is still far too slow, especially considering that from 2030 the inner cities of large municipalities must be supplied without emissions.
NOS
What probably plays a role in the trend to quickly buy diesel vans is the abolition of the BPM exemption for entrepreneurs in 2025. In layman’s terms: until then it is beneficial to buy a (diesel) van, because after that entrepreneurs have to do just like private individuals. pay purchase tax (bpm). From then on, this tax will also be linked to the amount of CO2 a vehicle emits.
The RAI Association, the trade association of car importers, expects that this abolition will have the opposite effect: “The sustainability of the vehicle fleet will be delayed rather than accelerated. In 2024, many diesel cars will still be purchased, after which this market will collapse in 2025.” .”
‘Unworkable’
The RAI recognizes that entrepreneurs are not yet switching en masse to electric: “The share is growing, but there has not yet been a trend reversal.” Car industry club Bovag sees the same thing: “Our members make their own decisions.”
City logistics lecturer Walther Ploos van Amstel previously warned about this: in his opinion, the regulations are often defined too broadly and the list of exceptions is too long.
Fleet manager John Laagland of the Volendam electrical engineering company Cas Sombroek opted mainly for diesel when renewing the fleet (fifty vans) two years ago: “It would otherwise be too expensive, and we don’t have room for so many charging stations here. Let alone that this infrastructure already exists in Amsterdam. This is unworkable for many entrepreneurs.”
‘Dieselhausse’
It’s a shame, says Zuidema: “I actually thought that municipalities did it quite fairly. It was announced a few years ago and all parties involved were given five years. Many customers are trying something, but few are completely get on with it.”
According to Zuidema, that will be a problem, because preparing something like this takes time. “The grid congestion is now known, as a company you can wait a long time for a connection in some places. If you suddenly want to switch to electric in a year’s time, that is not simply possible.”
He expects a ‘diesel boom’ before 2025. But parties that wait with electrification are losing out, according to Zuidema. “Parties that are already working will soon have a head start. The transition is inevitable.”
Zero-emission zones will be established in these municipalities:
NOS
2023-10-13 04:27:32
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