Europe is getting a boost from electric mobility: “And local carmakers are getting a train” – Seznam Zprávy

Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Transport Minister Martin Kupka (both ODS) want to cancel the European ban on cars with internal combustion engines. At the same time, there are few places where the demand for electric cars is growing as much as in the Czech Republic. The rest of Europe is the opposite. In particular, central Germany is reporting a significant drop in sales of new electric cars. What’s going on in the car industry?

Some time ago, the European Union promised that it will not be possible to buy a new car with an internal combustion engine in the twenty-seven countries after 2035. Vehicles with zero-emission driving should replace the mean gradually, ie – compared to today’s technological and industrial capabilities – especially electric cars. It is part of the plan to achieve carbon neutrality.

But it turns out that electromobility is far from being the driving force that politicians thought – sales of new electric cars are increasing or even declining in most European countries. . Paradoxically, the Czech Republic represents a visible exception in this direction this year.

“We have always been very interested in electric cars in the European scene. This year it is completely different, we are truly award winners. The year-over-year increase in interest in electric cars is 40 percent,” he says in the 5:59 podcast editor of Hospodářské noviny Ondřej Charvátwhich is mainly involved in the automotive industry.

According to him, the fact that more than 7,000 electric cars were sold in the Czech Republic in the first nine months of this year, i.e. much more than last year for the whole year, is also shared in the subsidy announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade for entrepreneurs and companies in March. It is also very popular because the money package that entrepreneurs and companies could attract when they buy electric cars is almost gone.

At the same time, according to Charvát, the Czech Republic has significantly improved the density of the network of charging stations. However, it is worse with the charging speed: “Most of the stations built so far have been slow,” says the journalist. But now, according to him, energy players on the market are building fast charging points more often: “We’ll see how it lasts, but I think we’re on the right track.

Another incentive for increased interest in electric vehicles in the Czech Republic can be the falling price of so-called wall boxes, i.e. devices for home charging. “Last fall, one of the wall boxes was also launched by Lidl, which is quite unusual, but it got completely dusty. And at the same time, it helped reduce the price of competing products, so now it’s usually around 20,000,” said Charvát.

However, it looks completely different with the sale of electric cars on the pan-European market, where there was a drop of eight percent in the first eight months of this year. According to Charvát, there are several reasons behind this “sobering”, driven by the high purchase price of new electric cars and the reduction of incentives to buy them across Europe.

In Germany, for example, the federal government has supported its generous subsidies. Those interested in electric cars were used to receiving 4,500 euros for a car with a price of up to 40,000 euros, and 3,000 euros for cars between 40,000 and 60,000 euros. Without these incentives, the Germans are not going to buy as much, notes Charvát: “This can be seen, for example, in this year’s figures for Volkswagen or the American Tesla. The demand for their electric cars has fallen into the tens of thousands of cars per year, which is a high number. “

According to Charvát, this move may have caught even the representatives of the German government coalition by surprise, so now, together with the representatives of the big car companies, they are considering other ways to support to electromobility, such as the introduction of the so-called scrap metal allowance, ie a subsidy for those who get rid of their car with an internal combustion engine and buy a new electric or plug-in hybrid.

At the same time, the European car industry is sending signals to political representation regarding how the ambitious schedule for emissions could be gradually reduced. According to Charvát, CEOs and managers of car companies are worried about the upcoming billion dollar fines for not meeting emission limits for new cars with a combustion engine.

“It would be a blow to them. The money they could pay for fines could help them catch up to the lead that China or the United States have in front of them,” says Charvát, pointing to rivals of Europe in the field of electromobility, which has not yet caught on: “Chinese electric cars are really ahead. Even the European manufacturers themselves admit that they have missed the train and are five to ten years behind China in the development of batteries. ”

According to the journalist, it is indisputable that “the future is electric”, since electric motors are cleaner and more efficient than internal combustion ones. European carmakers, used to getting the upper hand before, have no choice but to change: “I think this year or next will be a wake-up call for manufacturers European cars. They should wake up and start doing something,” concluded Ondřej Charvát.

In the 5:59 podcast, you will also learn how the American electric car manufacturer Tesla is doing in the European market and what are the plans of the Chinese car manufacturers for Europe. Listen in the player at the beginning of the article.