Alternative fuels: MEPs give go-ahead
The European Parliament adopts a less ambitious text than the Commission had hoped for.
“I am sorry that together we did not manage to convince the Council to accept a more ambitious text”.
These words of disappointment came from Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas as MEPs adopted, on 15 April, the directive aiming to give the EU enough charging points for electric cars and alternative fuel stations (liquefied natural gas, hydrogen-powered cars, etc).
This text is a far cry from the European Commission’s original intentions, since binding target figures for infrastructures are nowhere to be seen in it. Furthermore, the member states must adopt national plans in which they will define their own targets.
“The Commission will make sure that these objectives are ambitious enough and that they are respected,”
warned Kallas. He did, however, say that he was confident the text would stimulate the market for
clean vehicles in the EU. The only figures in the text are indicative.
These state points such as being able to find at least one charging station for
every ten electric vehicles in urban areas by 2020, or that LNG fuel stations for trucks should be accessible every 400 km along the roads of the Trans-European core network (every 150 km for compressed natural gas and every 300 km for hydrogen).
(Source: Europolitics)
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In: Connectivity & Automation, Environment & Energy