AVERE’s E-Mobility Conference came to a close yesterday (18 October) after two days of engaging, exciting, and diverse discussions on the future of e-mobility in Europe. The main message from the close to 100 high level speakers that spoke at AEC2018 is that the time is now for Europe to accelerate the transition to electrification.
The Conference was opened by European Commission Vice President in charge of Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic, who shared his green vision for the EU, stating how he sees Europe becoming the place for “smart, clean, and safe mobility” in which electric cars are made with green batteries manufactured on the continent. Whereas Zachary Shahan, Director of CleanTechnica, took a different approach asserting that while the environmental and societal benefits were important to note, the most impactful message that will increase global EV adoption rates is that driving an electric car is fun and super convenient.
The themes from the two-day Conference include how the e-mobility sector is rapidly becoming more interconnected and autonomous. At the same time consumers are opting for e-mobility sharing services over traditional modes of transportation. It was also made quite clear that, overall, people prefer to drive electric. However, there are still some key challenges preventing some consumers to understanding the benefits of driving an EV.
Espen Hauge, President of AVERE, addressed it in his opening keynote speech in which he stated that “more needs to be done to address and combat the misleading information regarding electric cars. We need to ensure that accurate and systematically reviewed studies are cited more often and are more visible to mass consumers and decision makers. At AVERE we want to clearly give you the closest we can get to the facts, while, at the same time trying to keep it simple, engaging and relevant.”
Within the “Tour d’Europe” session, in which AVERE members from across Europe provided insight from their own national contexts, the same message was made. One of the largest barriers in Europe is successfully communicating with consumers on the ground. If the sector is able to come together to effectively address these concerns of consumers the benefits for society, the economy, and the environment are numerous. The discussions of the future of the e-mobility sector will continue at AVERE’s next upcoming flagship Conference, EVS32 in Lyon, France in May 2019.
