Laura Doraitė-Gudavičienė, head of electric car product development at Elektrum Lietuva, comments on how the electric car market, their charging network, and what we can expect in the near future have changed since the appearance of the first electric car in Lithuania.
A technological leap forward
At the beginning of the last decade, the first electric car in Lithuania was resoundingly presented in the capital. Mindaugas from Vilnius converted his Honda HR-V from a normal internal combustion engine to an electric engine with the help of himself and his friends.
This self-made electric car 14 years ago – in 2010. October 19 – was registered as the first electric car in the history of Lithuania and became a symbol of the beginning of the era of electric cars in the country. Back then, this unique vehicle could travel 70 kilometers on a full charge, and it took 8 hours to fully charge it.
As L. Doraitė-Gudavičienė notes, electric cars offered by official manufacturers started to appear in Lithuania a little later. One of the first and most popular models was the Nissan Leaf, whose early 2014-2016 model year. the models could travel about 135-172 km on a single charge. Together with Nissan, other manufacturers, such as BMW, Tesla and Volkswagen, started to enter the Lithuanian electric car market.
According to the expert, in the last 14 years, electric car technology has made a big leap forward – today, modern electric cars can cover a distance of up to 500-600 km on a full charge. There are also models on the market that can travel 800 km or more with a full battery.
Laura Doraitė-Gudavičienė, Elektrum Lithuania
“If 14 years ago batteries were one of the main weaknesses of electric cars, today it is no longer a problem. As the battery capacity and efficiency increased, the driving distance increased several times, and modern charging solutions shortened the charging time to just 15-30 minutes. This significantly changes the user experience”, says L. Doraitė-Gudavičienė.
She adds that improving battery solutions not only ensure greater efficiency, but also gradually reduce the price of electric cars – thus they become more and more accessible to a wider circle of the population.
Both the primary and secondary markets for electric cars will grow
Looking at the change in the number of registered electric cars over the last 10 years, according to L. Doraitė-Gudavičienė, the growth of the market is sometimes calculated, but it is important to note that the share of electric cars in the entire country’s passenger car fleet is still only about 1.5 percent.
“On January 1, 2014, according to “Regitra” data, 12 electric cars were registered. in 2015 January 1 already 60 such cars were registered, in 2016 at the beginning – 147, and a year later – 325. Meanwhile, in the last 4 years, the number of pure electric cars has increased 10 times and already reaches 15 thousand. It is predicted that this number may reach 200 thousand by the end of the decade,” the specialist reveals.
Most experts agree that in 2024-2025 we will observe a turning point in the electric car market. According to L. Doraitė-Gudavičienė, already in 2024 sales of electric cars should increase by 50-70 percent compared to last year.
According to her, it is important to note that not only the primary, but also the secondary market of electric cars is growing faster and faster. Residents tend to choose not only new, but also more affordable used electric cars.
“It is expected that the supply of used electric cars from the Western European markets will increase in the next few years. According to the expert, in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands or the Scandinavian countries, the electric car market has already reached a higher level of maturity, so these countries will become the main exporters to the Baltic countries”, comments L. Doraitė-Gudavičienė.
The infrastructure network will soon meet all needs
The charging network in Lithuania is also expanding rapidly. According to the expert, the primary charging infrastructure for electric cars in 2014-2020 was created and developed in five major Lithuanian cities and resorts, as well as near international highways.
“2016 at the end of 2015, 40 free charging stations were operating in Lithuania. in 2020 173, a year later there were 314 of them. This year, 1792 public and semi-public charging stations have already been registered. Infrastructure development naturally goes hand in hand with the growth in demand for electric cars,” she shares.
As for the future prospects, the number of public electric car charging points will grow to 6,000 over the next six years, according to the Ministry of Transport. In addition, when planning network development, operators always take into account the needs of users in different areas of Lithuania.
“Fast and ultra-fast charging stations or charging parks are needed near the busiest roads and highways. Near offices, shopping centers and leisure facilities, where time is not such a critical factor, the focus is more on medium or slow charging solutions”, says Doraitė-Gudavičienė.
She adds that already today, electric car drivers can easily travel not only between cities, but also between them. And in the next few years, worries about the distance traveled will no longer be relevant, as the density of the charging network and the variety of stations will satisfy the needs of all electric car drivers.
#years #electric #car #Lithuania #move #Business
