Energy Blog: Beyond more chargers for Electric Vehicles in Zurich

(Excerpt from Article) The conventional wisdom is that to increase battery electric vehicle (BEV) uptake, we need more charging points. However, when we spoke with citizens, car dealership representatives, representatives from car import companies, and local government about the challenges and opportunities for BEVs in Zurich, they mention different challenges, too, and present solutions to overcome them e.g., including BEVs in coherent sustainable transport systems and reducing political uncertainty. 

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) offer a way to decarbonise individual motorized transport by replacing fossil-fueled cars, a process slowly taking off in Switzerland (only 4.6% of cars registered in 2020 as of September 2020 are BEVs). Conventional wisdom has it that for widespread adoption of BEVs, we need far more charging points, especially in Zurich, which only has a few. But new research shows that public opinion, across a variety of stakeholders, may be more nuanced than we think. Stakeholders, from potential consumers, to dealers, to politicians, painted a detailed picture of BEV adoption obstacles, but also provided some insightful solutions, focused on a complete, sustainable transportation concept that should be considered in order to boost BEV uptake.