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Victoria Mindova

Electric cars will enter the Greek and European markets after ten years at the earliest, said the head of the Association of Car Importers Dimitris Patsios. GRReporter consulted the experts in the automotive sector, after the National Statistics Office reported that there is still a sharp drop in the sales of cars in the first three months of 2011, and the needs of efficient transport services and opportunities are growing. Unfortunately, according to the experts, the European markets and the Greek one in particular are not ready yet to use the innovative technologies and the significantly less expensive in terms of maintenance electric vehicles are quite expensive for now.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a few days ago that her country will produce one million electric cars in the next 10 years. It is clear the innovation in transport is necessary for our greater independence from the natural resources and in support of the sustainable technologies; the cars that have a charger are expected to become the next technological boom that will push humanity one step further into the future.

Accounting for the ever-increasing fuel prices and EU targets for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by at least 20% by 2020, many people start to think about electric cars as an alternative to the well-known motor vehicles. They, however, are still a dream, after there are no more than four or five cars in Greece and then prototypes, which are also sold at the impossible high price of around € 44,000.

For comparison, the price of the same car in Germany varies between 32-33 thousand euros, but the state subsidizes its purchase with about four thousand euros. Its advantages are significant, however, given that per one hundred kilometers the electric car consumes electricity equal to about 1.2 euros and the ordinary car spends about seven euros or more on average. The electric car can go 150 km with a six-hour charge in the socket, but experts say that in urban areas drivers do not go more than 40 km per week.
 
"There are no policies or incentives in Greece that promote neither imports nor even the production of innovative vehicles," said Dimitris Patsios. On the contrary, the enthusiasts and fans of the eco-friendly transport are facing significant obstacles. One of them is that the luxury tax, similar to that which is imposed on yachts and powerful cars of the highest class, is imposed on the electric cars too. In that case, the end consumer price rises by almost € 10,000, which could make even the most eccentric rich buyer to think twice before buying an extremely expensive car which is not much larger than the familiar Smarts.

The expensive gasoline, the constantly rising taxes on cars and the general lack of funds in the market proved to be the main factors for the low interest of people to purchase cars with technology known until now. The official data show that 43.7% less cars were sold between January and March this year in Greece than the same period in 2010. Dimitris Patsios said the first three months were not good for the automotive market because the measure for the recycling of old cars was not in force. April this year recorded the highest sales, but the rumours about Greece’s bankruptcy tighten the belt and sales dropped.

Trends remain negative in the near future, after the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to increase the road tax by 20% again. "If the measure comes into force, so many cars will stop moving that the revenues from this tax would prove to be much lower than expected. In other words, higher taxes would be counterproductive and would actually negate the effect," said the head of the Association of Car Importers. He gave the example of last year's increase in road tax, which was extremely high and made 50 000 vehicle owners to stop their cars and submit their plates to the tax authorities.