Transition from internal combustion engine technology to battery electric vehicles represents an unprecedented transformation that requires the creation of a completely new value chain in Europe, the director general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said on Thursday at the Sustainable and Accessible Mobility Forum. (ACEA), Sigrid de Vries, according to Agerpres.

“Regulation can indeed be effective and benefit businesses, creating a level playing field or strengthening and deepening Europe’s single markets. Europe needs much more than just regulation if it is to maintain its place as a leader in the field of sustainability and an attractive region. And a shift from the combustion engine technology in which Europe has traditionally been a leader to battery electric vehicles is an unprecedented transformation that requires the creation of a completely new value chain (…) Legislation forces to produce and market cleaner vehicles. We need all three components of the car decarbonisation trinity if we want Europe to achieve its sustainability goals. Today, the market share of electric vehicles is at a low of 15%, and in the face of these new data we need urgent actions,” said de Vries.

The ACEA representative also pointed out the fact that, on a general level, consumers are reluctant to switch to electric cars, discouraged, among other things, by the lack of charging infrastructure.

“Consumers unfortunately remain reluctant to make the switch. And just to give you another example of the need for charging infrastructure, which is so important to building consumer confidence, we’re seeing charging infrastructure targets really lag and not offers enough to support a healthy market. My country, the Netherlands, has almost 52 times more public charging points than Romania, which unfortunately ranks last in the EU, and that doesn’t really help you are progressing at an equal pace in Europe,” explained the general director of ACEA.

According to the cited source, Europe needs to change its tactics in terms of car production in order to continue to be successful in achieving sustainability standards.

“ACEA brings together the 15 largest manufacturers of cars, vans, trucks and buses in Europe, and we are the voice of the automotive industry vis-à-vis the main legislators in the EU, but also at the international level (…) Romania is such an important producing country and for the car industry, with several factories in operation, producing over half a million cars last year. The car industry here represents about 15% of manufacturing jobs and is an example of how important the industry is in Europe. …) the world is changing really fast and that means that Europe has to change its tactics too if we want to keep these important successes.I think it is fair to say that Europe has long sought to be a global leader in establishing of ambitious sustainability standards, with the expectation that others will follow.This strategy has indeed had some success, as many major regions of the world have often modeled their regulations on the European model as a global benchmark for regulation. the environment. But we have to ask ourselves whether this strategy is still effective today,” said de Vries.