14 DAY TRIAL // The EU is dead set on drastically reducing carbon emissions, and it is ready and willing to go to extreme lengths to have its way. Thus, it was yesterday when the European Parliament announced that it was looking to pass new legislation compelling member states to install tens of thousands of charging points for electric vehicles.
Besides “bullying” countries into installing EV charging points, the new rules would demand the setting up of hundreds of hydrogen, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) stations.
The goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transport by as much as 60% over the next few decades. More precisely, the EU hopes to achieve this goal by 2050.
In a press release on the issue, the European Parliament details that, for the time being, many people shy away from buying either an electric vehicle or one that runs on hydrogen or natural gas for fear that they will not be able to drive it over long distances.
If implemented, the new legislation is expected to solve this problem, and lead to a noteworthy increase in the number of environmentally friendly vehicles driven up and down European roads and highways.
“More electric or alternative fuel cars on our roads could help reduce CO2 emissions and fight air pollution in cities. Only people won’t buy them because there are so few recharging - refueling stations and those stations are not being built because there are so few potential customers,” the European Parliament writes on its website.
“To break this vicious circle, Parliament is considering new rules that would require member states to build minimum number of charging stations by 2020,” it adds.
ClickGreen details that, under the new rules, the United Kingdom would be required to install about 70,000 EV charging stations. Germany and Italy would have a target of 86,000 and 72,000, respectively.
The charging and fueling stations for green vehicles would have to be installed chiefly in towns and along busy roads. Companies in the private sector will do all the heavy lifting, but high officials are to offer incentives to make sure that said companies agree to help develop this infrastructure.
EU member states are expected to set targets for building public networks of eco-friendly charging and fueling points by 2020 at the latest.