Electric vehicles (EVs) are reshaping the urban environment for the better, helping city dwellers breathe cleaner air and reduce their carbon emissions.
Across Europe, city councils have been implementing measures to boost EV adoption as part of efforts to reduce the number of combustion engines on the roads and the continent boasts some of the most electrified cities in the world.
In this article, PYMNTS looks at three European cities that have been at the forefront of the EV revolution and some of the initiatives that are helping the continent on its road to a more sustainable, electric future.
Amsterdam
As part of the city’s ambitious plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2025, Amsterdam has put in place several EV incentive schemes to add to the already pro-electric environment in the Netherlands.
As well as being able to benefit from nationwide incentives such as lower vehicle tax and government-funded subsidies for electric taxis and delivery vans, drivers in Amsterdam are being further encouraged to make the switch to electric by a range of local schemes.
The city has rolled out measures that include parking privileges for emission-free taxis, clean zones to keep out polluting vehicles, and even exclusion from parking permits for petrol-powered vehicles.
Of course, in a city that’s famous for its bicycles, EV technology is having an impact there too. In fact, since 2018, electric bikes have outsold city bikes in the Netherlands and there were over half a million e-bikes sold in the country last year.
London
With 2.6 million registered cars, London is one of the places with the most to gain from electrification efforts.
Moreover, as Transport for London (TfL) has stated, all Londoners live in areas that breach the World Health Organization (WHO) target for particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, making the transition to EVs an urgent public health issue.
With Londoners’ lives at stake, the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan has been doubling down on efforts to reduce the presence of polluting vehicles in the city. Currently, TfL is reviewing the possibility of expanding the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), where charges apply to anyone driving older, more polluting vehicles, to the whole city in 2023.
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In addition to Khan’s clean air initiatives, private sector players like Uber have also been stepping up their efforts to put more EVs on London’s streets.
The global ride-hailing firm has stated that “London is the global leader in Uber’s electrification efforts with more EVs on Uber in London than any other city on the app.” The firm said it is on track to have 10,000 electric vehicles in the city by the end of this year and plans for all Uber vehicles in London to be fully electric by 2025.
Learn more: Mobility Weekly: Madrid Regulates, London Electrifies
To help Uber drivers make the switch, the company has teamed up with the Nigerian vehicle financing startup Moove to offer a rent-to-buy scheme to drivers that will see Uber make contributions to their weekly repayments.
Stockholm
Stockholm is one of the most advanced cities in the world when it comes to transitioning away from fossil fuels, with plans to have all its public transport running on electricity or biodiesel by 2025.
In fact, Sweden in general has reported some of the highest rates of EV adoption in the world. In August, Mobility Sweden reported that 28% of all new car registrations were for fully EVs, with hybrids accounting for another 18%.
As a sign of the Nordic country’s strong EV market, Carla, an EV marketplace, netted $20 million earlier this year to help fund its expansion to the rest of Europe.
Read on: Carla’s $20M Funding to Grow EU Electric Vehicle Marketplace
To further accommodate the growing number of EV drivers, Stockholm has been pushing forward with building the infrastructure required to charge the new electric cars.
By 2026, Stockholm Parking aims to offer charging points in all its garages and is targeting more than 100,000 new charging stations for electric cars by 2030. This would equate to one EV charge point for every 16 people living in Stockholm County.
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