Mass purchase of electric cars

This is essential for increasing the production volume of climate-friendly vehicles. But there is a Catch 22 situation because fleet customers will not buy electric cars until there is a high performance electric car available to them at a reasonable cost. So what can we do?

We know that regulation is essential for increasing the proportion of electric cars on the roads. Effective incentives include cutting duties on electric cars, free parking with facilities for battery charging and permission to drive in bus lanes.

At the same time, it is evident that the public sector can do even more, especially in relation to vehicle fleet purchasing.  A solid investment in electric cars for public services would not only reap immediate rewards but would also ensure a price reduction for electric cars, due to economies of scale in the production process, and a greater investment in technological development on the part of the industry.

Several countries have already established requirements that electric cars should be the preferred choice for public purchase. The British government, for example, has taken a clear stance on this issue by requiring that the public sector uses climate-friendly vehicles. The postal service is to be equipped with low emission vehicles, the police are using hybrid cars and clear limits have been laid down on emissions from all public vehicles. Funds have also been set aside to build charging points for electric cars.

The British government has implemented these measures in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases, but low-emission vehicles also use less fuel – so the initiative has a clear economic effect in the long term.