A RECORD YEAR FOR E-MOBILITY

As 2021 draws to an end, both global and Polish data show that it was a year of records for the electromobility market. Most importantly, e-mobility has contributed to an annual reduction of CO2 emission by 127 million tonnes globally. This is 16% better than the year before. At the end of 2021, 5.6 million EVs will have been sold during the 12 months, which is 83% more year-to-year. At least 500 different models of passenger EVs are available presently, which is 37% more than in 2019 and with 7 million charging stations installed at the end of 2021, the global market is showing incredible growth. Things are very good from the business perspective as well, as the value of “clean transport” in 2021 is estimated at $244 billion.

RISING FIGURES

For Poland, the numbers are not yet so robust but are still constantly on the rise. The latest data from the E-Mobility Index run by PSPA and PZPM shows that there are currently 33,143 electric vehicles in Poland, out of which 16,037 are BEVs and the rest are PHEVs. Jointly this is a 105% rise year-to-year. Poland continues to be a leader in terms of e-buses, with a total park of 633 such vehicles. The shortage of semiconductors has shown to have little effect on the ever-rising number of electric cars in Poland. The public EV charging infrastructure in Poland is still below the expected level, with just slightly more than 1,700 stations. The highest number of charging stations is in Warsaw with 160, while Katowice, Wrocław Kraków, Poznań, and Gdańsk have at least 60.

Initiatives such as the “My EV” program launched in July 2021 are incredibly valuable in ramping up the EV car park numbers and experts expect 2022 to see a rapid rise in the Polish zero-emission fleet. The Polish public administration launched a new program, however, this time to support the development of charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. The National Fund for Environment Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) launched the program on November 29 at a conference, alongside the ministry of climate and environment and industry organizations PSPA and PIRE. The program will begin taking in funding requests at the beginning of 2022. The value of the funds is at PLN 900 million and it will subsidize the funding for 17,000 charging stations and 20 hydrogen refueling stations. Most importantly though, NFOŚiGW will also dedicate PLN 1 billion to developing the electric grid in order to supply the installed EV charging infrastructure. This shows that the Polish public administration is approaching the issue of supporting zero-emission transport in a comprehensive way.

AMBITIOUS PLANS AHEAD

This comprehensive approach is especially important at this point when electric road transport is confirmed as an imminent reality. The declaration signed by the participants of the COP26 and industry representatives such as PSPA echoes the often reiterated proposal included in the European Commission’s Fit for 55 packages, to phase out ICE vehicles by 2035. This is most desirable for the market and most stakeholders wish for policies to be even more ambitious, but the process as a whole will have an enormous impact on the automotive sector. This in turn will have a major impact on the job market, especially in economies where the automotive manufacturing capacity is limited and aligned industries will have to be developed. Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe find themselves in this situation.

In late October 2021, PSPA together with BCG published a report on the effect of electromobility on the automotive sector in Poland. The analysis covered 26 industries divided into eight key areas and 31 job segments, divided in turn into five categories: technology, supply, production and services, sales, and other jobs. A total of 806 job positions were considered. In Poland, this sector represents a total of 397,000 jobs, out of which 280,000 are related to the ICE or ICE component industry. On top of that 63,000 people are employed in the segment of servicing and maintenance of conventional automotive technologies. The sector constitutes €36 billion of the Polish export value and 10.5% of the Polish industrial output. It is hence clearly discernible that the change of this sector in its transition towards emission-free technologies will affect a major part of the economy and needs an elaborate strategy. It necessitates a plan of developing the strength of aligned industries which can compensate for the potential job losses. If successful, the Polish economy can then add 6,000 jobs to the sector. Aligned industries can include both charging infrastructure, as well as software, but for Poland R&D and innovation potential should be developed for the battery sector (Poland is the number 1 producer in the EU and the battery sector makes up 2% of the country’s annual export value) and e-buses (the only EV-type which is and will be produced in Poland on a major scale, now Polish e-bus production makes up 46% of the EU export value of this type of buses).

All this shows how the e-mobility market is really becoming an economic and strategic issue, which will affect other sectors and industries. To sum up and move swiftly into the new year it’s worth noting that on December 2 road signs for e-mobility are set to be implemented by Polish law. The new road signs D-23b and D-23c aim to inform drivers about the availability and location of EV chargers. They were proposed (and designed) by PSPA in 2019 and showcased in Lublin, during the first New Mobility Congress. Together with the city of Łódź, PSPA also coordinated the first pilot project regarding horizontal road signs allowing EVs to use bus lanes. This means that 2022 will welcome not only the amended law on electromobility and alternative fuels (which will most likely be signed into law before the end of the year) but new road signs for electric vehicles. The first quarter of the year will also be intense for the zero-emission transport stakeholders, as acts of EU legislation contained within the Fit for 55 packages will pass into a parliamentary phase of proceedings. The market looks forward to the rapid and ambitious implementation of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), and other important regulations. This will definitely be worth discussing in January and the months to come. Meanwhile, happy holidays!

The Polish Alternative Fuels Association (PSPA) states that it is the largest, fully representative industry organization, which promotes zero- and low-emission technologies in transport in Poland. Aleksander Rajch is the director for external relations and board member at PSPA.