APIA: Electric cars will represent 68% of sales in 2030

The share of purely electric cars sold in Romania could reach up to 68% of total sales in 2030, said yesterday, Dan Vardie, president of the Automobile Manufacturers and Importers Association (APIA), at the Sustainable Mobility Forum, an event that took place at Romexpo.

Dan Vardie specified: "If we talk about the evolution of electro-mobility in the industry, a possible scenario is that, in 2030, 68% of the total number of cars sold in Romania could be purely electric, 11% could be plug-in hybrids and somewhere up to 20% cars other than plug-in hybrids or electric cars. This matrix was made before some very important information regarding new decarbonization technologies appeared. Today, Europe is somewhere around 14-15% new electric cars out of total registrations, while Romania is at around 11%".

The president of APIA also said that the granting of eco-bonuses should tend to zero by 2023.

Mr. Vardie pointed out: "Unfortunately, 2023 does not bring a market bigger or equal to that of 2019, to be very clear. So, when someone said in 2020 that it would take us a few years to get out of the pandemic, many probably said "Lord, it's not possible, it will be faster". Here we have figures that show us that, indeed, it is not that simple. The forecast shows that we will have around 40,000 green cars at the end of the year, but in reality it will be somewhat less, since things have not evolved at the pace we had hoped for with electric cars. For electrified cars, electric cars, things are even more spectacular (...) An APIA proposal that was discussed with the Ministry of the Environment is about how it would be normal, natural and important for consumers, not just for industry, to evolve these eco -bonuses, to reach zero in 2030. I would like to tell you that it is a phenomenon that has already started in many countries, if not in all of the European Union. The reason is that obviously we have to find a moment of truth where people buy, choose, if they choose electric cars, not just because someone, that is the state, gives them some money, but because they really identify with this form of mobility".

The Sustainable Mobility Forum was also attended by Adina Vălean, the European Commissioner for Transport, who stated that the Strategy for Sustainable and Digitized Mobility, proposed by the European Commission, does not propose banning short-distance air services, restricting access to cities by motor vehicles or even reducing the speed limit to 30 km/h in European cities, but is the basis of the only legislative proposals in the "Fit for 55" package, which provides clarity and opportunities for industrial development.

Adina Vălean specified that the transport sector is very important for Romania's economy: "Transport is vital for the European Union, in which we provide mobility for 440 million inhabitants. On average, 13.2% of each household's budget is allocated to transport goods and services. Approximately 5% of the European Union's GDP comes from this industry. Transport is essential to more than a million businesses and more than 10 million people earn their living in this industry. The land or road transport sector, more precisely, represents the largest part of the 6.5% contribution to Romania's GDP, coming from the transport services sector. With many billions in import and export, with the help of transport, the automotive sector is in turn one of the main engines of the national economy. 14% of goods exported last year were vehicles, and approximately 10% of all exported services were transport services (...). For each of us, the car represents an asset that goes beyond the classic boundaries of the products we use daily. The car is the expression of individual freedom of movement. Therefore, I believe that the transition to new electric vehicles must be combined with the development of an industrial ecosystem that ensures everyone's access to competitive and cheaper products than those that exist now".

The official of the European Commission also referred to the infrastructure of refueling and recharging stations: "In the near future, we have obtained the commitment of the member states of the Union that for each electric car placed on the market we will benefit from an installed recharging power of 0.6 kilowatts and every 60 km of the trans-European network to have a recharging station by 2030. Similar targets are accepted on European networks for hydrogen refueling stations, a fuel that remains essential especially in longer-distance road transport. We have also set minimum standards for recharging speed and installed capacity of a minimum of 350 kilowatts. More, we have mandated that every modern car park on the main European transport network has at least one charging or charging station. Of course, these mandatory standards adopted at the European level require major investments, but they are already attractive for institutional investors and the energy industry".

The European Transport Commissioner also showed that our country has, through the PNRR, projects to develop the national infrastructure of alternative fuels for road vehicles and in particular the installation of at least 30,000 recharging points, until mid-2026.

Adina Vălean stated: "Romania has approximately 12 billion euros available for transport. However, European funds are not only dedicated to classic infrastructure. We finance innovative solutions along the entire logistics chain, from recharging stations, intelligent traffic management systems, secure, digitized truck parking, multimodal cargo or passenger terminals. We have reserved, for example, more than 1.6 billion euros for charging station financing projects. Romania has already submitted five projects under the financing line for recharging stations. And here we have a contribution from the European Union of 27 million euros".

The Sustainable Mobility Forum organized yesterday by APIA was also attended by representatives of companies in the field of mobility, who showed the importance of financing by the EU and the Government of programs regarding the development of electric mobility. We remind you that from the year 2035, car manufacturers will no longer be able to sell only thermal combustion cars, but only electric cars.