/View.info/ Electric transport cannot be an asset for the rich. The European Parliament created rules to develop the infrastructure, which is an important condition for its accessibility and acceptable price. This was commented by MEP Petar Vitanov in the program “The World and We” on BNT. The head of the Delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists was the Parliament’s rapporteur on the infrastructure for alternative fuels.
“The regulation on the development of infrastructure for alternative fuels, which are not only electricity, but also hydrogen, ammonia for some vessels, was adopted by a large majority. If we want decarbonization in the field of transport, there must be a place for cars, trucks, rail transport, vessels to charge, as well as for them to have easy access from one point to another in the European transport network”, comments Petar Vitanov.
European legislators managed to agree on regulations that by 2026, electric charging stations for cars with a power of at least 400 kW will have to be located at least every 60 km.
“It is important to have an even coverage, because if we rely only on the market, some countries may continue to use fossil fuels and others may want to decarbonize, which will create severe imbalances in Europe. This infrastructure powers not just cars, but the European economy,” added the MEP.
Bulgaria cannot lag behind the processes because it will remain in economic isolation.
“For us to have good tourism, Romanians, for example, should be able to come to the Bulgarian Black Sea coast with their locally produced electric cars and have somewhere to charge them. If we want to keep our place on an important goods corridor, we need to be able to ensure that we have an adjacent electrical infrastructure,” Vitanov said.
According to Petar Vitanov, who is a coordinator in the Committee on Transport in the EP, even the most developed European countries have problems with charging stations, because the production of electric cars is ahead of the development of the infrastructure. He gave the example of Germany, where you have to wait three hours to fill up a car with alternative fuel, which in turn increases skepticism about whether we are ready for the transformation. Every country in the EU should act to encourage manufacturers of charging stations to build infrastructure.
“At the moment, there are few electric cars in Bulgaria, not because of a lack of infrastructure, but because the Bulgarian consumer cannot afford it. If electric cars are more than 10% of the newly purchased in Europe, then in Bulgaria this percentage is below 1. This is a process that will be overcome when the price of the electric car falls. “According to the forecasts of industry experts, the price of a new conventional car and an electric car should be equal in 2-3 years,” said the MEP.
Petar Vitanov also considered as an important step the condition for users of vehicles running on alternative fuel to be able to pay easily at charging points (with payment cards or contactless devices and without the need to have a subscription), and the price of these fuel will need to be displayed per kWh, kg or per minute/session.
Bulgaria is one of the few countries that does not subsidize the purchase of electric cars, he added.
“The faster the technology enters the market, the faster it will become available to all Europeans. The benefits for the Bulgarians will be great, because we are the ones who live in the cities with the dirtiest air. Bulgaria does not produce cars, but electrification will contribute to the opening of 80,000 new high-paying jobs for our specialists due to the need for electrical components,” said Petar Vitanov.
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