Germany accommodates hybrids in 15M EV goal?
New German transport minister has said hybrid vehicles will now be accommodated in the goal of getting 15 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030. Volker Wissing said both full-electric and hybrid vehicles are included in the EV goal while speaking at a retreat organised by Handelsblatt , a newspaper outfit in Germany.
“We want electrically powered vehicles. Of course, hybrids also make a contribution to this,” Volker Wissing of the liberal democratic party told a conference on Monday organized by Handelsblatt newspaper. This position is slightly different from what the new government said in November last year.
The coalition agreement released last November said the new government intended to target at least 15 million fully-electric passenger vehicles in 2030, an apparent increase from the previous administration’s goal of 14 million electrified vehicles by then.
Reiterating the position of the new government, Stefan Gelbhaar, Green MP and transport policy expert told Reuters that: “We agreed on a clear goal in the coalition agreement of at least 15 million fully-electric passenger vehicles by 2030.”
Hybrid vehicles which have been criticized by environmental groups for being at least as damaging as their fossil-fuel counterparts make up around half of the just over one million electrified vehicles on German roads with the other half fully-electric. The greatest criticism against hybrid vehicles is that they are as damaging to the environment as the fossil-fuel ones because of infrequent charging and their weight, which means they use more fuel.
Referring to the apparent disparity between the two positions, Gelbhaar said: “I am confident that Transport Minister Volker Wissing will make clear and swift progress here.”
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.