Author: Greet van Wesemael
The AVERE E-Mobility Conference 2018 is the largest, most influential pan-European e-mobility conference, right in the heart of the European Union, Brussels. Greet van Wesemael, director of EVConsult, will be one of the inspiring speakers at the conference. On Tuesday, the 29th of August, she gave a first insight on her vision on the future of E-Mobility and working in this sector during an interview by Philippe Vangeel, AVERE Belgium.
How can we incentivise public charging in major European cities?
“We often hear that a shortage in public charging infrastructure prevents the growth of electric driving. In my opinion it is not only the shortage but also the information on the use of these available public charging points that forms the basis for this opinion.Last week, a friend of mine who bought a new 100% electric car who asked me where to find information on charging locations, how to pay for charging, … and I have to admit … it is still hard to find. In my opinion , there are 2 main reasons for this : first of all the information on the available charging infrastructure comes from different operators who are not sharing yet the info in a joint platform …. Secondly, the charging and billing possibilities are not always very clear and coordinated. Therefore, interoperability and open data should be promoted and even obligated.This does not mean that I believe there are enough charging points at the moment in Europe. When we compare for instance Belgium to the Netherlands, we see actually there are about 4,9 BEVs for 1 public charging point, whereas in the Netherlands we see 0,7 BEVs for 1 public charging point.The responsibility to provide the charging infrastructure is in most cases given to the government. A good planning and well-studied roll-out of charging infrastructure should be the basis for a future-proved loading infrastructure. Actual data analysis and forecasting models should form the basis for this. At the moment there are too many uncoordinated actions, both by public and private organizations. So, a better coordination would lead to the necessary public charging network.In brief, I would say, a joint commitment of governments and private companies is the only way to come to a sufficiently covered public charging infrastructure network. This commitment would comprise roll-out planning and policy of governments and sharing of up-to-date information about charge point type, availability and price.”
What brings you to AEC2018?
“EVConsult is a leading electric mobility consultant. Our mission is to accelerate the transition to electric mobility. This will involve stopping the emission of harmful substances in order to enjoy clean air. We contribute towards this by exploiting our passion for electric mobility. So, it is obvious we are at the AEC conference in order to promote our vision and to share our knowledge and experiences. And off course we want to be aware of all new evolutions in this field, on the technical side as well as the policy side.”
What is the favourite thing about working in the e-mobility sector?
“Since I was a student, I was interested in mobility. I studied transport economics and started to work as a consultant in the mobility sector 25 years ago. Since then, there have been a lot of evolutions in this sector. I’ve conducted many studies in the field of sustainable transport and I’m convinced that E-mobility can be the solution for those trips that cannot be substituted by other transport modes such as biking or public transport. There will always remain individual or shared car trips, bus trips, beat trips or flight trips. If we can accelerate the transition towards electric vehicles, we can make a big contribution towards CO2 reduction and make our cities viable again. Moreover, I like
- The enthusiastic people in the sector;
- The many challenges to counter;
- To contribute to a better world, fossil free for the next generations.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about public charging in major European cities, don’t hesitate to contact Greet van Wesemael at g.vanwesemael@evconsult.nl.You can also visit the The AVERE E-Mobility Conference 2018 website.