The electric car, then, would seem to be the answer. It is arguably cleaner and greener and, with much of Europe exploring their potential, persuading the auto industry to build them here could turn plants that face closure – as we’ve seen this week at Opel in Antwerp – into goldmines.
Flemish innovation minister Ingrid Lieten announced earlier this month that she would invest €400,000 in the promotion of electric vehicles. This would involve a series of pilot projects, including the development of an infrastructure of charging points for these battery-run cars.
Her decision came hot on the heels of an announcement from the European Union’s Spanish Presidency that it would push for a Europe-wide policy to promote electric cars and hoped for an action plan to be put in place by the end of its six-month tenure in June.
Amid all this enthusiasm, however, there are many question marks from both an environmental and economic point of view.
Emissions conundrum
First of all, it is not necessarily the case that emissions will turn out to be lower. Cars powered by renewable energy such as wind and solar are certainly more environmentally friendly, but one charged with electricity from a coal-fired power station might not be so squeaky clean.
“It’s a good opportunity to promote them, but we would like to combine this with the need for green energy in Flanders,” says Wouter Florizoone, a transport campaigner for environmental organisation Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen. “More than 90% of our energy comes from nuclear or coal.”
Belgium is shifting to renewable sources of energy, but this is still a small portion of the total output – and is already being used up. The extra demand from electric cars is likely to be met from “dirty” energy.
The construction of the autos must also be considered as these are intensive industrial processes, themselves responsible for huge emissions of greenhouse gases. According to Greenpeace, the whole life cycle from well to wheel must be taken into account.
Aside from direct emissions, European legislation to limit tailpipe emissions from conventional cars gives huge advantages to electric car makers who may earn so-called super credits, entitling them essentially to pollute more with their existing, conventional fleet.
EU law requires that all new cars must start to meet an emissions limit of 130 grams per kilometre in 2012. This is much softer than the originally proposed 120-gram limit, and gaping loopholes, such as the credits, mean car makers have to do practically nothing to improve petrol- and dieselfuelled cars. “This is the real reason why you see such a lot of enthusiasm on the part of car makers for electric cars,” a European policy maker wryly comments.
Environmentalists also fear that pushing electric cars is a diversion from other measures to lower transport emissions for a government that has a hard time selling alternative forms of transport to a nation of car drivers. “This allows something tangible for politicians, but we see it as a political threat,” said Nuša Urbančič, policy officer with Transport & Environment. “Politicians who focus on this might not be putting the pressure on conventional technologies.”There are other environmental benefits of electric cars – lower noise pollution and lower emissions of other pollutants, such as sulphurous gases – but, all in all, experts are divided on the environmental benefits.
The European Commission is about to embark on a study to determine once and for all whether they will do the trick. However, everyone (including industry) agrees that they are indeed just part of a bigger picture.
“They are not the silver bullet on cutting greenhouse gas emissions,” said one industry source. “We should also look at fuel efficiency, bio fuels and natural gas, as well as using techniques such as eco-driving.”
Supply and demand
Second of all, it’s not clear that electric cars will provide the economic benefits the government hopes for. Car makers are already shifting production of conventional cars to cheaper parts of Europe.
“This push for the electric car is a desperate move,” says Joeri Thijs, a campaigner with Greenpeace Belgium. “The government hopes these cars will be built here…but it’s more likely they will be built in Eastern Europe or Russia.”
Wherever they might be built, electric cars are clearly on their way, given the ample demonstrations by manufacturers at the European Motor Show in Brussels earlier this month. But with their hefty price tags, the next question is whether people will buy them.
The technology is developing fast, but electric cars currently need to be charged more often than a convention car needs fuel. It would take a pretty committed individual to run the risk of being marooned between the few charging points.
One local transport expert said that consumers buy cars with all their likely journeys in mind, including the once-a-year holiday to the south of Europe. The best car makers and the government can hope for is that people buy them as a second car for trips in the city.
Even industry, which suffered deeply from the global financial crisis, has doubts that the electric car will provide the much-needed boost in demand. “This is not something for tomorrow,” said our industry source.
The Flemish government is investigating ways to get more people out of their cars and on to buses, trams, trains and bicycles in a bid to cut mushrooming emissions of greenhouse gases. By 2050, emissions from transport are projected to wipe out the cuts made by some of Europe’s most polluting industries, threatening the region’s legally binding environmental targets.
The promotion of green transport in the region’s cities has seen results thanks to well-developed plans. Brussels has introduced a bicycle rental scheme and announced plans to extend metro lines, while Ghent has introduced pedestrian-only zones to limit inner-city traffic.
The real challenge lies in persuading commuters from the suburbs to quit their gas-guzzling vehicles and find alternative means to get in and out of the cities. Intra-city transport in Flanders can be time consuming and often overloaded, making it an all-too-easy choice for people to hop in their cars, despite traffic bottlenecks.
The government needs to accelerate initiatives if it wants to achieve a large-scale shift. “This has to go a lot faster,” maintains Joeri Thijs from Greenpeace Belgium. “There are plans to better connect certain regions, but it’s really slow, mainly because of budgets.”
There are programmes to boost alternative forms of transport, such as Express Net, which will add more rails for trams and trains to the Brussels network. Stations have been reopened, and soon all residents should have access to buses. It’s hoped that this comprehensive approach will improve the situation for commuters. “We need to integrate different kinds of transport,” says Wouter Florizoone from environmental organisation Beter Leefmilieu Vlaanderen. “A lot of people just take their car to the train station. A lot of stations also have limited capacity for bicycles.”
Thijs says that there should also be better infrastructure for budding cyclists to travel into Brussels. “Many people are coming from only 10 or 15 kilometres away, but you’d have to be crazy to go by bike.”
While there is much to be done in the region, there is also little understanding from the population about the alternatives that already exist. “It’s an issue of communication,” says Florizoone.
Environmentalists believe there’s an appetite from frustrated car commuters. Thijs concludes: “If the government would really push the plans, it would go much faster.”
Flanders Today is a 
-8°C / -2°C
