Car importer’s association calls for four-fold increase in electric vehicles
The Swiss car importer’s organisation Auto-SuisseExternal link has set an “ambitious” goal for the number of new electric or rechargeable hybrid vehicles travelling on Swiss roads: one in ten by 2020.
In 2017, the proportion of new electric vehicles in Switzerland indeed increased, but to a modest 2.7%, meaning that the current fraction must almost quadruple in less than three years to reach Auto Suisse’s goal.
But, as the organisation emphasised in a statement, only the attainment of this goal – as well as growth in other alternative propulsion technologies – will allow Switzerland to meet the carbon dioxide (CO2) output limit of 95 grams per kilometre for new vehicles. Announced by the Swiss government in 2012, that limit is set to enter into force in 2020.
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The organisation noted that the supply of alternative propulsion vehicles continues to increase. However, it added that there is still “a lot of room for improvement” in terms of infrastructure (such as more recharging stations for electric vehicles) and taxation. Currently, Swiss cantons do not provide, for example, tax breaks for electric cars.
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