In an interview with the Czech news server E15.cz, European Commission’s vice chairman Maros Sefcovic warns that Europe is falling behind in the development of electric cars. He warns that while European car manufacturers once led the way by creating cleaner, more efficient diesel cars, they underestimated the speed at which electric cars would spread across the globe. It’s also the reason the EC has implemented new, tougher environmental regulations he says are likely to lead to one-third of all cars being either electric cars or hybrids. Sefcovic warns that the creation of the charging infrastructure will be crucial for the spread of electric cars. He’s also proposed the creation of an Airbus-like alliance among European nations to produce car batteries, in order to reduce dependence on Asian batteries.
But he’s not all doom and gloom “I visited American factories where they make Teslas,” says Sefcovic. “If I compare them with the highly-automated factories in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, I’m not surprised that Tesla is having problems meeting the demand for its cars. It’s our chance, but we have to move quickly. If you take a taxi in Brussels now, there’s a good chance you’ll be picked up by a Chinese electric car from a company you would never have heard of until recently – BYD. It’s becoming the biggest producer of electric cars in the world.”
