March 16 (SeeNews) - The municipal government of Sofia must lead by example in its efforts to promote electromobility by acquiring electric vehicles for its own fleet and the public transport system of the Bulgarian capital, an expert on e-mobility has said.
Such an example might have a two-pronged effect, as it will allow citizens to experience the comfort of electric vehicles (EVs) and encourage people to consider them as an option when buying a car for themselves, Angel Lopez Rodriguez, electromobility programme director of Barcelona City Council said during an e-mobility focused conference held in Sofia earlier this month.
This will be the most effective measure for the municipality, as it has complete control over the matter, compared to measures directly stimulating owners of electric cars, which do not always lead to the anticipated results. Another matter over which the municipality has significant control is the fleet of taxi and logistics companies operating in the city. The use of electric taxi cars might produce the same effect, which the switch to electric buses for public transport is expected to result in.
However, this does not mean that the municipality should abandon its efforts to promote electric mobility through measures directly aimed at owners of EVs, Angel Lopez Rodriguez noted.
"The public sector should catalyse and accelerate the process [of boosting the electric car stock]," Rodriguez said, adding that municipalities can encourage people to buy electric vehicles through financial incentives in the form of grants or tax benefits, as well as the construction of the necessary battery charging infrastructure.
In their speeches during the conference, Sofia mayor Yordanka Fandakova and deputy mayor for transport Evgeni Krusev addressed some of the issues raised by Angel Lopez Rodriguez.
"In the past few years, Sofia municipality is pursuing a clear vision for its development as a green and innovative city and this vision is reflected in our projects. Undoubtedly, our biggest investment in the past few years was in public transport and its development, in electric transport and improving the public transport fleet as a whole," Fandakova said.
Since 2007, when the country joined the European Union, around 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) was invested in the development of the city's subway network, Krusev said. Some 500 million euro of EU funds was invested in the existing two lines of the Sofia subway during the 2007-2013 EU funding period, while the European Commission approved funding of 450 million euro in 2016 and 2017 for the third line of Sofia's subway, which is under construction. When complete, the third line is expected to be 16 km long with 19 stations, increasing the length of Sofia's subway network to 56 km of lines with 53 stations by 2020.
A total of 21.8% of people living in Sofia used the subway in 2017, which compares to a share of 9.7% in 2011. Their number is expected to continue to increase during the next years, according to the municipal authorities.
Sofia is also due to sign shortly a contract for the delivery of 20 electric buses for the needs of the city's transport, Fandakova said. The buses will be delivered by the end of this year, she added. Sofia municipality is also preparing to launch a tender for an additional 30 electric buses, which is expected to take place within the next 2-3 months.
In addition, the municipality has also partially renewed its fleets of trams and trolleybuses in the past few years. Last year, Sofia Public Electrical Transport Company signed a 46 million levs contract with Czech manufacturer Skoda Transportation for the delivery or 13 new trams.
The municipality is also making efforts to boost the appeal of e-mobility to the private sector by drafting a plan for the construction of over 60 electric vehicle charging stations in the city, Fandakova said. "I believe that in the near future we will even need to expand this network and we are ready for this," she added.
Owners of electric cars in Sofia are exempt from paying annual vehicle taxes to the municipal budget and can also park free of charge in the paid parking zones in the central part of the city.
The measures seem to have led to tangible results, as the total number of new electric chargeable passenger car registrations in Bulgaria posted the sharpest growth among all EU member states in 2017, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, ACEA.
New electric chargeable passenger car registrations in Bulgaria soared to 106 in 2017, seven times more than the 13 registrations in 2016, ACEA's data showed. In addition, registrations of hybrid electric vehicles more than doubled to 1,195 in 2017 from 580 in 2016.
According to data from the country's statistical office, some 1.26 million people lived in Sofia at end-2016.