Poland as the leader of e-mobility – an ambitious plan for the future

We are facing a real challenge. The e-mobility development plan adopted by the Council of the Ministers of the Republic of Poland in 2017 foresees a million electric vehicles on the roads by 2025. It is no secret that this plan will be difficult to implement in six years, but at least a reference framework has been introduced and guidelines have been drawn up for future development.

What are the benefits of regulation?

The new regulations offer the following advantages:
– regulation of the alternative fuels market,
– The lack of infrastructure is addressed with the target of having a minimum number of electric vehicle charging stations in place by 31 December 2020 (6000 standard refuelling stations, 400 high-capacity stations and 70 Compressed Natural Gas refuelling stations),
– are provided a number of incentives to encourage the sale of electric cars, that is to say: Elimination of excise duties on electric cars, higher depreciation for companies purchasing electric cars, exemption of parking tickets for owners of electric cars and the possibility to drive on preferential lanes.

We are on the road to the future

Of course, regulation alone is not enough. The private sector, from industry to services, is called upon to believe in this bet of the Polish Government by innovating its processes to the new demands of the car of the future.
But it is mainly consumers who will say whether the future of cars in Poland will be electric. Surely the subject of e-mobility is already known to “insiders”, those directly involved in the automotive value chain, providers of charging systems, refuelling companies, or large companies that think of replacing their corporate fleets. But what about the proverbial “Mr. Kowalski”, the classic average Polish user? It can be said that little by little he becomes familiar with the theme, at least in the larger cities. There are more and more electric or hybrid cars, some taxi company has fleets consisting only of electric or hybrid cars, there are more and more charging stations, developers of new buildings begin to offer parking space with recharging systems. Obviously the situation is not the same in all Poland but we can say that no longer electric cars are perceived as an idea of the far future, comparable to science fiction movies of the early 80s with flying vehicles. As with any major change, it will take time.

E-mobility will save Polish air

Another argument in favour of e-mobility in Poland may be air pollution. On 22 February 2018, the European Court of Justice stated that Poland had infringed EU law by failing to comply with its obligations regarding CO2 emissions and clean air. Perhaps it is the desire for cleaner air that will drive the development of electric mobility not only by the state, but also by its citizens. Is it the care of Poland common good and the health of Poles that will have a positive influence on consumers purchasing choices? It is not easy to answer. It will be necessary to see how Poland will decide to meet the increased energy needs for electro-mobility. In practice how this electricity will be created. But this will be the subject of an other post…