The European Green Deal sets ambitious goals for all EU members, which are essential to addressing today’s biggest challenge: climate change. Along with the efficient and rational use of energy, one of its most important areas is the transition to green mobility, which includes electric vehicles and the infrastructure for charging them.
According to the European Commission’s “Ready for 55” legislative package, road traffic will move towards zero-emission mobility by 2050, reducing average emissions from new cars by 55 percent by 2030.
It is also important to note that, in accordance with the new and amended directives EU ETS (European Emissions Trading System), EED (Energy Efficiency Directive), and EPBD (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive), road traffic will be included in the emissions trading system. Darko Zeljković, in charge of further developing e-mobility in Southeastern Europe at Schneider Electric, talks about green mobility.
Q: From Schneider Electric’s perspective, what awaits us in the field of green mobility in the context of the new and amended directives?
A: The new obligations facing us as producers, buyers, and consumers will lead to a significant increase in the use of electric cars. Statistics show that the number of electric vehicles sold in the European Union is growing three times faster than the number of chargers for those vehicles. That is why it is necessary to start building the infrastructure for charging vehicles for short and long trips in our region. Regarding infrastructure, we must be aware that it includes not only publicly accessible areas but also private areas, i.e., private connections.
The leaders of the current wave of traffic electrification in Serbia and Montenegro are primarily companies that are increasingly introducing electric vehicles to their company car fleets and equipping their existing garages and parking spaces with adequate chargers. One of them is our company, Schneider Electric, which, as a signatory of the global initiative EV100, has the ambition to replace its vehicle fleet with electric vehicles by 2030 completely. In addition to them, a significant role is played by hotels, catering facilities, shopping centers, public garages, and parking spaces, which want to provide more services to their users.
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Q: We know that publicly available chargers will not be able to meet the charging needs of electric cars. Can we expect them in private buildings and houses?
A: It is essential to develop a network of publicly accessible chargers along the highways, near the hubs of crucial roads and public transport stations. Here, the great importance of domestic companies (Charge Point Operators and eMobility Service Providers), which in previous years, regardless of the small number of electric cars registered in Serbia, recognized this need and started or continued their business in the direction of infrastructure development charger. Thanks to them, today, through their networks and applications for charging and payment, we have around 150 chargers available in Serbia and around 30 in Montenegro.
The efforts of PE Roads of Serbia to expand its network of publicly accessible chargers along the main road routes in Serbia, which currently has eight fast chargers, by the end of this year from a new 50 and by the end of 2025 to total of 114 fast chargers of different power, are commendable.
I hope that their intentions will come true. Along with the already mentioned domestic companies, they will provide electric vehicle drivers with a safe and secure ride and a user experience of the highest level, especially during the summer months, when a large number of transit passengers from Europe are on our roads.
I want to emphasize that the latest amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction of the Republic of Serbia will significantly contribute to the further development of infrastructure and the increase in the number of chargers in residential buildings, commercial buildings, and along roads. Commercial, multi-apartment buildings and houses play a significant role in the provision of infrastructure because vehicles are regularly parked there for long periods of time.
Cars with internal combustion engines are usually charged on the road. Expert estimates show that in the future, as much as 90 percent of electric car charging will be at the destination, home, or work. Charging at the destination will increase electricity consumption by 40 percent in buildings, ultimately leading to an increase in electricity costs for each building, that is, for each household. That is why, right now, there is an ideal opportunity for buildings undergoing some renovation to adapt to the future increased electricity consumption and the need to prepare installations for electric vehicle chargers.
Schneider Electric
The story was published in the Energy portal Magazine ECOLOGICAL TRANSPORT.
