As electric vehicles surge in popularity, Europe finds itself caught between growing climate ambitions and rising geopolitical tensions.
At the EVS38 summit in Sweden, industry leaders are urging governments to “step up, not step back.”
CGTN’s Li Jianhua sat down with the Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe to talk about incentives, tariffs, and how China fits into Europe’s electric future.
#emobility #green #EVs
At the EVS38 summit in Sweden, industry leaders are urging governments to “step up, not step back.”
CGTN’s Li Jianhua sat down with the Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe to talk about incentives, tariffs, and how China fits into Europe’s electric future.
#emobility #green #EVs
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NewsTranscript
00:00For us, the key theme of this edition is stepping up, not stepping back, because we see we're at a very critical time of the electric vehicle transition, especially here in Europe, where we need to double down and push forwards and not get caught up in a lot of the tensions which are impacting the world today.
00:15So a chance for us to come together, chart the path forwards with confidence and bring all of those insights back afterwards as well.
00:23And what we can see across Europe is it's still a big patchwork of progress when it comes to electric mobility.
00:28So what we try and do is connect the dots in Brussels to provide a clear view from the European level, but then to cascade that down to the member states too.
00:37And based on your experience, what does work and what doesn't?
00:41Well, definitely what works is a smart, sustainable approach to incentivising demand.
00:45We've seen member states in Europe try and just add subsidies for electric vehicles.
00:50The problem then is they can't continue that going for the long run.
00:54What's more effective is, for example, to use the tax system of a country to advantage electric vehicles while disadvantaging fossil fuel cars.
01:01And that allows you to do really healthy, sustainable and stable incentives, which are not going to break the bank for cash-constrained member states.
01:10So how do EU member states subsidise this nascent industry?
01:15It very much differs from member states to member states. Some have just tried to subsidise the cost.
01:21There are some very good examples we have, for example, in Belgium.
01:24Belgium have a very favourable tax regime for corporate fleets.
01:28So in Belgium, one in three cars sold this year are electric, which is showing how incentives can work.
01:35China is a leading player in e-mobility, especially when it comes to electric vehicle innovations, battery supply chains and rare earth supplies.
01:43So how do you see China? Do you see more of competition or cooperation?
01:49Clearly, China has very important advantages in key areas, from battery production to electric vehicle technology and more.
01:57I think in Europe we've realised that we have to work out how to leverage this expertise in a way that's good for all parties.
02:04And the United States has rolled out sweeping tariffs on the US car imports.
02:09And how is the European Union's EV sector coping with that?
02:14The US tariffs have brought just massive uncertainty and friction into an already strained global market and global supply chains.
02:22And I think whoever you ask, adding global friction right now is a bad idea.
02:27So whether you're operating in Europe or elsewhere in the world, these tariffs are having an impact.
02:31This is the time when our car companies need to be ready to invest into electric vehicles, into pushing these technologies forwards.
02:38Any friction which we're introducing at a global level is only going to remove our capacity to do that.
02:43What does the next phase of growth look like for e-mobility? Where do we go from here?
02:48We're this year bringing a lot of new models, electric car models, into the European market because we have new CO2 limits.
02:55So there's going to be 14 new car models in Europe under the €25,000 price point.
02:59So now is a really critical year where we have to speed up the electric vehicle transition to make it really work.
03:04So I think it really is a question right now of industry, governments coming together and making sure we have the conditions in Europe to chart that path forwards.
03:14And making sure we bring consumers along for the ride too.
03:16So I think we still think the future is obviously going to be electric and we hope that Europe can stay the course, work collaboratively with partners while also having a clear objective for growing its own industry and prosperity as well.