Government mulling incentives to boost use of electric cars
The Greek government is considering incentives to promote the use of electric cars and natural gas in transport, along with expanding the use of biofuel, as part of its actions to reduce emissions, Environment and Energy Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said on Monday.
"On the islands, electric cars have no problem of autonomy. It's worth adding clean transport to the islands' brand," Hatzidakis told an Ecomobility Conference in Athens.
The minister said the National Plan for Energy and Climate includes a goal that one in three new vehicles will be electric by 2030. He acknowledged that this goal sounds ambitious, but noted that developments and technological progress could surpass this goal in the future.
Hatzidakis said the government planned to support domestic production of biofuel and presented plans to promote use of CNG in light vehicles and LNG in heavy vehicles and shipping.
The national plan envisages the development of 8 LNG fuel stations and 55 CNG fuel stations by 2030 (from 15 at present).
Addressing the conference, Alexandra Sdoukou, secretary-general of Energy and Raw Materials, said some of the financial incentives for the purchase of electric cars include tax cuts and lower duties, or subsidising the purchase price, along with other incentives to facilitate their use, such as free parking.
She noted that electric cars accounted for less than 1.0 pct of total car sales in 2019 in Greece and stressed that according to EU data, Athens – along with Milan – have the highest emissions rate from transport and vehicles (75 pct) and this was related to the fact that Greece has one of the more aged car fleets in the EU.
[ANA-MPA]
