The B2B platform for full-electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles: Policy News

Energy ministers meeting in San Sebastian, Spain, on 8 February will unveil a Europe-wide plan for the development of electric cars, Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told the European Parliament earlier this week.

The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, said yesterday, 21 January, at the plenary session of the European Parliament that the European Union would embark on a major new project to promote electric car production.

"If our markets don't have a regulatory framework to provide financial support, and if we don't have common standards on the technologies, then it will be difficult for Europe to take a leading role," he said.

"In the last ten years ... our energy consumption has gone up by nine percent," he told euro deputies. "We need to reduce our dependence. If we don't reduce it we won't be able to have any economic growth."
"In the meantime, we see that China and Japan are developing fast on electric vehicles," he added. "They're working very hard on batteries."

The project will be launched at a meeting of EU industry ministers in the Spanish city of San Sebastian on 8 February.

Car electrification, a sustainable trend

There has been renewed interest in electric cars in recent years following several unsuccessful launches in the 1990s.

Spain has said it wants one million electric cars on the road by 2014. Neighbouring Portugal launched Europe's first national recharging network in June last year. Around Europe, different incentives schemes are put in place to offer price reductions for consumers willing to purchase an electric vehicle. A European EV policy confirms that the sector will be booming in the coming years.