The European Parliament’s Committee on Transport (TRAN) debated on Monday 14 March the draft report by Ismail Ertug (S&D, Germany) on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure in the transport sector (see EUROPE 12899/21).
In concrete terms, the report presented by Mr Ertug wants to take the Commission’s ambitions regarding charging infrastructure for electric vehicles a step further. For example, while the report maintains the Commission’s 60 km charging station spacing criterion, changes have been made on the issue of efficiency.
In particular, the rapporteur expects charging sites to have a total output of 600 kWh by 2025 and each charging station to have an output of 250 to 350 kWh. The Commission expected an overall capacity of 300 kWh per station and 150 kWh per terminal within the same period.
In addition, there were differences in the Commission’s proposal between the comprehensive trans-European transport network (TEN-T) and the core TEN-T. Ismail Ertug advocates aligning the objectives and rules for the comprehensive and core TEN-T.
The Commission assumes, for the calculation based on the fleet present in a Member State, an available power of at least 1 kWh per registered vehicle for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The rapporteur argues for a power of 3 kWh when this type of vehicle accounts for less than 1% of the fleet, and for a reduction when the share of these vehicles exceeds 7.5% of the fleet.
“We have to be cautious about this aspect”, the Commission cautioned, indicating that the infrastructure available to achieve this may not be sufficient.
Differences on several issues
Hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) were also discussed. On this point, differences of opinion emerged among MEPs.
“I am concerned. There is talk of technological neutrality, but the rapporteur’s proposal moves away from neutrality. We are concentrating on electricity and moving away from hydrogen and LNG”, judged Carlo Fidanza (ECR, Italy).
Other members of Parliament’s TRAN Committee took the opportunity to recall the need for European sovereignty in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the EU’s energy dependence.
In addition, some of the interventions focused on means of payment.
“We are going in the right direction, but it is also important to be ‘user friendly’ - to look at prices, to facilitate payment without excluding certain models”, said Jens Gieseke (EPP, Germany).
“The majority of Parliament parties can go along with what is proposed by the rapporteur”, added Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA, Germany).
On the other hand, Elsi Katainen (Renew Europe, Finland), speaking on behalf of her Dutch counterpart Caroline Nagtegaal, stressed the centre-right group’s commitment to allowing only credit card payments.
Several amendments are expected to be tabled by the Renew Europe Group by the 18 March deadline, Mrs Katainen warned. These should include higher targets for heavy and commercial vehicles and better coverage of sparsely populated areas.
The Renew Europe Group also puts forward the idea of creating a “national coordinator for infrastructure deployment” and strengthening the role of the national TEN-T coordinator.
For the Greens/EFA Group, the priority was also to provide real-time information on the availability of charging points and prices. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)