Can Europe get up to speed? Turbulent switch to electric vehicles

François PICARD | Rebecca GNIGNATI | Elena COLONNA | Nicolas MEILHAN | Maria Eugenia SANIN | Peter SIGAL

Edité par France 24 - 2024

 

Governments invested massively in the switch away from gas guzzlers, in what seemed like a masterstroke for a continent in need of both tackling climate change and a fresh start coming out of the pandemic. But now, public money is running dry. The most glaring example: France has been forced to slash its subsidy to EV buyers. We will ask if a burgeoning electric vehicle market could cave.

As we recently saw when looking at the US presidential race, we see how here too the green transition has become a battleground in bitter culture wars. So where's the middle of the road?

Note
  • Can Europe compete? Part of the answer is on display in Hall 5 of the Paris Motor Show, which opened its doors to the public on Tuesday. Chinese maker BYD is signalling its play for the French market with affordable – albeit subsidised – fully electric models. We ask about EU pushback against those subsidies, and how the homegrown competition is faring.

Langue
anglais
Date de publication
16/10/2024
Collection
The Debate
Contributeurs
Nicolas MEILHAN Senior Advisor at EV-Volumes
Maria Eugenia SANIN Coordinator of the Applied Research & Policy Group, Center for Economics, Paris-Saclay University
Peter SIGAL News Editor, Automotive News Europe

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