ALTHOUGH Germany believes in free market economy, there are certain fields that warrant government intervention for the common good. One of these issues is the use of electric cars. Germany plans to put one million cars on the roads by 2020.
Toward this goal the economy minister Sigmar Gabriel wants to commit two billion euros ($2.17 billion) to encourage more people to buy electric cars. Buyers of these cars would receive subsidies from the government. The German government also plans to expand charging stations and encourages government departments to use electric cars.
This is a monumental task considering that electric cars sold only 19,000 units in 2014 and the country has only 2400 charging stations.
Calls for supporting electric cars grew at the end of last year after the VW emission scandal. The subsidies to electric cars would come from the normal budget with no need to increase taxes.
This “positive discrimination” for electric cars is needed in order to convince consumers to switch away from their comfort zone of petrol cars. The shift is not likely to occur on its own. GCC government departments could plan ahead for less petrol-dependent societies by similar measures that taxes petrol consumption and rewards alternative energy.
One positive step was taken recently by removing some fuel subsidies in Saudi Arabia. But a switch to lower fuel and alternative energy takes more effort — similar to the German model.
Change is always hard to implement but the rewards are worthwhile. Most obvious rewards are lower fuel consumption and cleaner air in big cities.
In order to make a similar change possible in the GCC region petrol prices need to be higher and incentives be given to switching to electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are suitable for use within city limits and their use is likely to improve air quality, lower noise levels and possibly improve traffic flow. It is a change worth implementing as soon as possible.
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*Adel Murad is a senior motoring
and business journalist, based in London.
Email: [email protected]
