2023-12-20 09:16:33
The question of financial intervention by public authorities to encourage electric cars is at the center of debates on the new CO2 law, currently being examined by the National Council. TCS director Peter Goetschi estimates, on RTS, that Switzerland should invest 90 million francs per year to strengthen the charging infrastructure.
Fully electric cars play an essential role in Switzerland’s climate strategy, already accounting for a significant share, or 18%, of new vehicle purchases last year. However, despite this progress, signs of decline are appearing, leading Switzerland to lose positions in the European rankings.
This trend is likely to increase from January 1, the date on which electric vehicles will no longer benefit from exemption from import tax. The Federal Council justifies this decision by arguing that vehicle prices have fallen sufficiently.
This observation is shared by the president of TCS, the only organization in the automotive world to defend the CO2 law, Peter Goetschi. “The automobile industry has taken the turn, it has decided that the future will be electric. (…) Manufacturers started by offering a high range – for reasons of return on investment -, but the offer is expanding “Prices are starting to align, making it possible to have electric cars for everyone,” he explains on Wednesday in La Matinale de la RTS.
>> Review the subject from 7:30 p.m.: From 2024, electric cars will be taxed like other vehicles / 7:30 p.m. / 1 min. / November 8, 2023
Strengthen charging infrastructure
At the heart of government concerns is the crucial question of accessibility to charging stations. As part of the CO2 law, a proposal to subsidize the installation of these terminals in buildings, businesses and public parking lots is put forward, with an allocated budget of 180 million francs from 2025 to 2030. But this measure was rejected by the Council of States and a homeland of the right is also fighting it in the National Council, which is discussing it on Wednesday.
“This whole development is underway. So we shouldn’t put taxpayers’ money into it yet. What’s more, we don’t have enough electricity. It doesn’t make sense to artificially accelerate this process with such subsidies”, estimates national councilor Michael Graber (UDC/VS).
The elected official goes further by pleading for technological neutrality, emphasizing the importance of not favoring electricity to the detriment of other less advanced technologies such as hydrogen or synthetic fuels.
Peter Goetschi responds that “the use of electric cars represented 2% of consumption last year”. The director of the TCS insists on the fact that we must “put effort into charging infrastructure to allow citizens to take the plunge”.
>> Listen to the explanations in La Matinale: After the Council of States, the National in turn seizes the new law on CO2 / La Matinale / 1 min. / today at 06:24
The TCS asks for 90 million per year
According to the director of TCS, it would take “90 million francs per year”. “Switzerland is a country of tenants, and currently, a tenant cannot freely decide where he wants to install his charging station,” he says. It is on this point that the State must give “an impetus”. He judges that France’s initiative of leasing at 100 euros per month for electric cars, for example, is not useful, in particular because of the “different” purchasing power in Switzerland.
Whether subsidies are present or not, a consensus seems to be emerging: the installation of charging stations in private homes should be exempt from taxes. This decision was ratified by both chambers last week.
Radio subject and comments collected by Etienne Kocher and Pietro Bugnon/vajo
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