The First Regional Conference on E-Mobility Raised Important Questions About Sustainable Transport in Southeast Europe

The First Regional Conference on E-Mobility raised important questions about sustainable transport in Southeast Europe. The first regional conference dedicated to issues of sustainable transport and electrification was held on Thursday, November 12, in the Crystal Hall of the Westin Hotel in Zagreb.

The conference was co-organized by Savjetura, a domestic consulting company focused on sustainability, and supported by the British project Rapid Charge Network, funded by the EU. Numerous European experts on electromobility participated in the conference. Saša Bart, the director of Savjetura and one of the speakers, emphasized in his presentation that the goal of the conference is to “put Southeast Europe on the world map of e-mobility.”

The recently held conference on e-mobility in Southeast Europe finally introduces Croatia and the surrounding region into a new technological era. The gathered representatives of domestic companies and public organizations showed great interest in the conference, which featured numerous European experts in the field of sustainable development and transport. The conference was opened with a welcoming speech by Dorothée Coucharrière, a representative of the European Commission for Mobility and Transport. Her presentation addressed the measures and global program of the European Union for e-mobility, as well as the reasons for companies and organizations transitioning to electric fleets. Following Coucharrière, Saša Bart, the director of Savjetura, highlighted that “the paradigm of transport is fundamentally changing today.” He emphasized that this presents an opportunity for Southeast Europe, given that there are no barriers to the development of this market segment in the region. Mr. Bart also drew attention to the potentials in developing e-mobility infrastructure in the region and encouraged relevant institutions to find an appropriate incentive system that would be capable of developing e-mobility in both the public and private sectors.

The Scope of E-Mobility Incentives in Croatia
Following Mr. Bart, Vesna Bukarica, a representative of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of the Republic of Croatia, continued with her presentation. She pointed out that sustainability in our country is currently encouraged by non-repayable funds and grants, but that this is not a long-term sustainable situation. New financial instruments will need to be found very soon to promote energy efficiency protection. Bukarica presented several interesting data regarding the state of e-mobility in Croatia. Although her office has approved nearly one billion kuna to promote sustainability in our country, only a small portion is allocated to electromobility. For example, the fund has so far provided incentives for 668 vehicles (electric, hybrid, PHEV), but it is encouraging that in just one year, from 2014 to 2015, interest in this type of vehicle increased from a modest 53 to 453 vehicles. In her presentation, she also highlighted the achievements of the “Green line” project, co-financed by the Environmental Protection Fund, which includes: extensive electrification of infrastructure in our national parks, co-financing of public electric bicycle systems and transport in cities such as Čakovec, Koprivnica, and Vukovar, and support for transitioning the entire bicycle fleet of Croatian Post to electric bicycles.

Financial Potentials for Companies
Next at the conference was Levente Reizer, the product development manager at Nissan, one of the strongest automotive brands distinguished by its electromobility program. We learned that Nissan, with 200,000 sold electric cars, is the world leader in this segment. An interesting fact is that Nissan’s market share in Europe in this segment is a high 25%.

Regarding the financial viability of e-mobility for companies and public organizations, Ivan Zovko, a consultant at Savjetura, spoke. After him, the microphone was taken by Deirdre Arthur from the Irish energy company ESB, who introduced the conference participants to the extensive electrification program in Ireland, all supported by EU funds. Positive Irish experiences in the field of transport electrification will certainly serve as a good guide for Southeast European countries.

Test Drives of Electric Vehicles
As part of the rich conference events, interested representatives of companies, employees in public institutions, and gathered journalists and conference participants had the opportunity to test personal and commercial electric cars and verify their technical capabilities. During the test drives, participants could try and compare the BMW i3, Mitsubishi models Outlander and iMiev, Volkswagen e-UP and e-Golf, Renault vehicles Twizy, Zoe, and Kangoo, as well as Nissan LEAF and ENV200. The high interest in test drives indicated that owners of domestic companies and the wider public are indeed considering green technologies and the advantages of e-mobility.

Programs and Competitions for Green Corridors in Europe
A particularly useful and informative segment of the conference was the presentation by Saša Bart and Maja Salapić from the Agency for Mobility and EU Programs, dedicated to EU programs and competitions to promote e-mobility. From their presentations, many useful pieces of information about the European TEN-T and CEF programs for the so-called “green corridors in Europe” were shared, which significantly promote sustainable transport. Many European countries have already drawn significant funds for the development of infrastructure and various forms of transport with their projects. For example, France, as part of the CORRI-DOOR project, built a system of 200 charging stations, Ireland built 46 rapid DC charging stations, and Denmark did similarly. Maja Salapić detailed the upcoming competitions within the Horizon 2020 program from which our business and public entities could draw funds for their e-transport projects.

Round Tables and Case Study Analyses
The final part of the conference was marked by discussions among speakers at a round table titled “Solutions for Faster Development of the Electric Vehicle Market.” Eminent European experts such as Colin Herron from the Zero Carbon Futures project, Dorothée Coucharrière from the European Commission, Henriette Spyra from Austriatech, and Mette Hoé, a representative of the Capital Region of Denmark, along with Saša Bart from Savjetura, discussed the possibilities, potentials, and challenges of the electric vehicle market, commented on financial incentive systems, and legislative initiatives in Europe such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions for cars. Among the more interesting case studies, we highlight Henriette Spyra’s presentation on the legislation and strategy of e-mobility in the Republic of Austria, the regional case study by Anya Bramich, who presented concrete experiences from Northeast England, and the case study of electromobility in the city of Copenhagen, presented by Mette Hoé. The conference concluded with a look into the future of electromobility, with presentations addressing changes in urbanism, the development of infrastructure for electric vehicles, and their integration into the sustainable energy systems of cities and countries in Europe. The rich program, interesting and useful content and speakers, and above all, the inspiring atmosphere of the conference achieved the original goal of the organizers, successfully “putting Croatia and Southeast Europe on the world map of electromobility.”