According to industry specialists, a complete shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe will pose major logistical challenges.
A new report suggests that Europe has inadequate charging infrastructure, limited consumer confidence, and prohibitively high total costs of EV ownership. At what the authors see as a critical turning point in the transition, EV uptake is restricted to specific vehicle segments and markets. Despite relentless EV promotion and official mechanisms aimed at cutting petrol and diesel vehicle use, the average age of vehicles on European roads continues to rise.
The report’s author is the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), supported by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). According to the latter, “EV transition [is] not a straightforward road for competitiveness.” This seems to endorse the report’s findings, namely
transition requires a significant transformation of existing supply and value chains, which will also impact the types of labour and skills needed in the industry. The shifting revenues and cost structures, as well as the competitiveness of the EU automotive industry, will determine whether electric vehicle (EV) sales can offset the anticipated decline in internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) revenues.
The report shows commitment to ‘the transition,’ shot through with real concerns about the possibilities of delivery. Like tariff-minded Brussels policymakers, the authors seem committed to an overarching ideology of ‘the transition,’ rather than treating EVs as niche products in a diverse marketplace beset by poor external planning and decaying infrastructure.
Contrast this with the Chinese approach, dominating the EV market while treating its products as commodities to be subsidised, protected, and then sold, with none of the soul-searching found in the European Union.
