Over the last few years, the European Union has taken significant measures toward climate mitigation. However, if the world wants to avoid the worst effects of climate change, countries only have a limited amount of time to act. That is why it is crucial for national, regional, and local authorities to stay up-to-date when it comes to looking for new solutions that can help in the fight against climate change.
It has been proven multiple times that when cities work together and with national and regional players to combat climate change, they are most effective. In this case, implementing game-changing and efficient policies that would encourage more people to switch to electric cars can truly make a difference. According to Schmidt Automotive, battery electric vehicles sales in Western Europe will account for 60% of the market (8.4 million vehicles) by 2030.
Electric vehicles have been marketed as the ideal vehicle for European cities since they are non-polluting, have minimal operating costs, and are environmentally friendly. That is why numerous cities around Europe are seeing an increase in battery-powered electric vehicles on their roads. USwitch, a UK-based price comparison service, recently published the results of their study which aimed to determine which European cities were most devoted to promoting the usage of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles, along with shared mobility, will undoubtedly play a significant part in smart cities in the upcoming years. With more drivers successfully persuaded into switching to electric cars, the broad availability of charging stations is extremely important. Cities must construct large-scale EV charging infrastructure, as well as urge other stakeholders to invest. The level of charging infrastructure varies greatly across different European cities, which is why the USwitch’s study offers a very useful insight into the most EV-friendly cities in the old continent.
In the study, each city was assigned a combined score of 10 based on the four key factors: average charging price, the average distance between chargers, average charger power and the proportion of free electric charging stations. Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, received an overall score of 7.94, making it the greatest European city in which to purchase an electric vehicle. Iceland’s capital performed admirably in all four categories, with an average distance between EV charging stations of only 0.55 kilometres.
The city of Glasgow ranked second in the study with an impressive score of 92% for free charging points. Although it achieved high marks in other areas, Glasgow was disadvantaged for a low average EV charging power score of 17kWh. The Portuguese capital Lisbon came third in the study. It had an amazing overall score of 7.31, thanks to great ratings of €0.17 for an average price per kWh and 0.76km for the average distance between charging stations. Budapest was the highest-ranked central European city on the list, coming 4th overall.
The Hungarian capital scored well across all categories, with over half of its EV charging stations being free and the average charging power of 25kWh. The top 5 was closed by the Norwegian city of Oslo, which has a long-standing reputation as one of the EV capitals of the world. Barcelona, The Hague, Prague, Antwerp, Helsinki, and Amsterdam round out the top ten.
Electric vehicles provide numerous environmental and air-quality benefits. Local authorities can adopt ambitious new tactics to entice residents to drive electric vehicles by strengthening the charging infrastructure, among other things. Electric vehicles have an enormous potential to reduce emissions and aid in the fight against climate change, which is an opportunity the world cannot afford to miss.
