Stimulate the choice for electric vehicles

That's how you do it

Electric vehicles do not emit particulate matter and NO _x and make much less noise than conventional vehicles. However, they still cause other pollution from tire wear and contact with the road surface.

As a local government, you can encourage the use of electric vehicles in three ways:

● draw up a policy plan on electric driving,

● provide publicly accessible charging stations,

● electrify your own fleet.

Ideally, the focus should be on the three above issues.

Tips

• The Flemish government has developed a guide to 'Electric driving for local authorities', which explains step-by-step how to electrify a local authority's vehicle fleet.
• The same government also published the brochure 'Charging points in cities and municipalities — what options are there' .
• The electric driving policy plan does not stand alone. It is therefore important that the objectives of this plan are linked to the pursued climate, environmental, economic and mobility policy.
• When determining locations for charging points, it is best to take the following considerations into account:
  • Are you going to bundle or spread the locations?
  • What are the practical possibilities and obstacles of those locations?
  • Are there connection options to the electricity grid?
  • What about the current parking pressure at that location?
  • What is the parking regime there?
• When electrifying your own fleet, you should ensure the following:
  • Create internal support and engagement.
  • Make sure you are sufficiently informed about electric vehicles.
  • Determine replacement potential based on needs, budget and supply.
  • Take into account the Total Cost of Ownership of the desired vehicle. You can easily calculate this with the Total Cost of Ownership Calculator.

Knowing more

To achieve sustainable mobility, local authorities often use the STOP principle (Steps, Stairs, Public transport, Passenger car), a ranking of desirable modes of transport. Electric cars have now been added to this and that is why it is now called STOEP : electric vehicles come before conventional passenger vehicles.

When rolling out charging infrastructure, local authorities can opt for a proactive or reactive strategy or a combination of both. With a proactive strategy, you will provide charging points at strategic locations. In the reactive strategy , charging points are provided at the request of citizens or companies.

More information

• Environmentally friendly vehicles (Department of Mobility and Public Works, Flanders)
• Figures electric driving (RIVM, the Netherlands)