The European parliament is set to adopt new laws that will increase the support across the bloc for alternative fuel vehicles, particularly electric cars.
The new European Union laws are aimed at setting up infrastructure for alternative fuels in the EU, a move aimed at boosting electric vehicles and reducing Europe’s dependence on imported oil
Ahead of a vote today EU politicians and the European Commission indicated they had hoped for a “more ambitious agreement”.
However the current text is seen as an important step forward, the EU commissioner in charge of transport, Siim Kallas, said from Strasbourg.
The text was agreed late last month between Parliament and the Council of Ministers representing the EU’s 28 member countries.
It requires EU national governments to put in place recharging stations for electric vehicles by 2020, but also fuel stations for cars driving on compressed natural gas (CNG).
Although “less ambitious” on that point, the draft law also pushes national governments to develop the necessary fuel tanks for maritime vessels that will ensure they can travel between ports on liquefied natural gas (LNG).
European politicians welcomed the fact that the legislation would help end the “chicken and egg” situation on the use of electric cars in the EU.
After several failed attempts, the plugs on electric cars are finally to be harmonised at EU level.
T
his will remove an important barrier to the adoption of electric vehicles by consumers who feared they would be unable to recharge their cars after they cross the border.
Recharging stations will also need to be multiplied across Europe, in order to ensure security of supply for the consumer.
The EU commissioner said he believed that the harmonisation of technical standards “will mean huge benefits” and that “costs would be reduced through economies of scale.”
The standardisation of plugs is the main reason why the Greens and Socialist groups have decided to support the proposal despite their “disappointment” at what they saw as a failure to “make a reference to renewable energies”, or tie the text to greenhouse gas emissions.
“The lack of infrastructure left us in a vicious circle, no recharging, no use of clean vehicles,” said Inés Ayala Sender, a Spanish Socialist MEP, who helped prepare the proposal.
Despite “different approaches on technicalities on plugs,” Ms Ayala Sender welcomed the proposal and called for “one single recharging point to be brought to the market”.
