Transnational Strategy for the planning of the electric charging stations!
15 partners from 6 Alpine Space countries are preparing e-Mobility transnational strategy for an interoperable community and networking in the Alpine Space within e-MOTICON project, co-financed by INTERREG Alpine Space programme.
Despite very relevant technical developments in the e-mobility sector, its wider diffusion is still running quite slow due to several important hurdles, of which two well-known are: (1) high purchase price of the electric vehicles, an obvious obstacle for many potential buyers, and (2) limited range, as it actually restraints the vehicles’ functionality. Once the price limit is overcome, the perception of a limited range remains and easily turns the driving experience into a negative one, known as “range anxiety”.
An active work with the key actors like local, regional and national Public Authorities on deployment of the effective charging infrastructure, would greatly contribute to overcome this second limit. e-MOTICON project focuses exactly on this aspect, with identifications of policies, tools and solutions able to create a favourable environment for the widespread distribution of electric charging infrastructure in the space that goes from metropolis to isolated rural and mountain areas, such as Alpine Space.
e-MOTICON partners are currently working on the transnational strategy for the electric charging spots planning, which based on the best practices of the interoperability, will be used in planning of electric charging stations with public access, and will contribute to the increase in options for the low carbon mobility in the Alpine Space.
At this stage, project partners identified six main aspects, crucial for the infrastructure development that have to be tackled by every Public Administration, and called them “Strategic Pillars” due to their fundamental role in the on-going transnational discussion, which will continue in the upcoming months.
Even though the Transnational Strategy is still a work in progress, and will be delivered to the public in a couple of months, the Strategic Pillars are previewed to stakeholders:
SP#1 DEFINE THE BEST POSSIBLE ROLES OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES: identify the actions that all Public Administrations of the Alpine Space should put into practice to create a homogeneous environment, favourable to the diffusion of electric mobility. These actions, mainly related to the coordination, have to be defined for both the Regions and the Municipalities;
SP#2 SET SUPRA-REGIONAL COMMON MINIMUM RULES ON INFRASTRUCTURE: establish common minimum technical standards for the Alpine Space, in order to have the public authorities leading the development of a highly usable transnational network;
SP#3 COMPLETE THE MINIMUM INFRASTRUCTURE: carry out a census to identify the exact number and density of the charging stations in the territories. Crosscheck the data on the infrastructures with the ones on the mobility and on the structure of the regional road network. Identify and locate the minimum infrastructure to ensure the driveability throughout the entire territory, with specific attention in ensuring border areas’ continuity;
SP#4 ADOPT AN INTEGRATED, SUPRA-REGIONAL MAPPING TOOL: underline the importance of having reliable and easily available information on the location and on the technical characteristics of the charging points. Support the creation of official national registers;
SP#5 EMPOWER COMMUNICATION AMONG PUBLIC AUTHORITIES: share knowledge, information and best practices on electric mobility between Regions and Municipalities. Jointly identify the technical requirements for the infrastructure;
SP#6 GUARANTEE SYNERGY AMONG PRIVATE AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT: identify and exploit the best possible synergies between e-mobility and public transport, with particular attention to the main hubs (i.e. railways and airports). Encourage public transport companies and e-mobility providers to integrate their services.
Important contributions providing data, tools and information will come from the on-going Pilot Actions, each one directly linked to one or more pillars, in order to deliver a complete, effective and replicable Transnational Strategy.
e-MOTICON project has been invited by the EUSALP Action Group 4 (EU Strategy for the Alpine Region) working on the promotion of the inter-modality and interoperability in passenger and freight transport, to present the Transnational Strategy at next AG4 meeting on 19 June 2018 in Trento.
