Interest in electric cars is growing. The largest combined charging HUB has been built in Prague.
Electric cars in our country are breaking records in recent times, according to an analysis published by the Transport Research Centre. According to their data, by the end of May, there were nearly 69,000 fully battery-powered personal vehicles registered in the entire Czech Republic. Of these, the capital city, where the largest combined charging HUB for electric cars opened in June, accounts for more than 20,000 registrations.
While last year the share of electric vehicles in the global market for new passenger cars was 25 percent, this year it is expected to reach 30 percent, according to a document by the International Energy Agency. The Czech Republic is no exception in this regard.
“Although we still lag significantly behind the European average, the results for the first four months of this year show gradual improvement - the Czech Republic moved to 22nd place among EU countries in the share of newly registered electric cars. Currently, there are more than 68,600 registered personal electric vehicles in the Czech Republic, with nearly 11,000 added since the beginning of the year. The import of used electric vehicles plays a significant role in this,”
stated to ČTK the director of the mobility and safety division of the Transport Research Centre, Pavel Havránek.
For example, in April, people in our country bought 1,684 new cars, which represents a year-on-year increase of 37 percent. From January to April, the number of newly registered electric cars reached 5,123, representing an overall increase of 18 percent. However, the number of used electric cars imported from abroad grew even more significantly. During the given period, Czechs registered 4,260 used electric cars, a year-on-year increase of 79 percent. The most common countries of origin for the used cars are Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
The Trend is Moving Towards High-Performance Charging HUBs
Suppliers of infrastructure necessary for the operation of electric vehicles are also responding to the described trend. Therefore, at the beginning of June, the largest combined charging HUB for electric vehicles was opened for drivers in Prague.
"Data from European cities show that the trend is moving towards high-performance charging HUBs, smart power management, and integrating charging with other services in the area. Projects like Novovysočanská are also heading in this direction,"
wrote to the editorial team the chairman of the Energy Committee of the City Council of Prague, Jan Chabr.
The new HUB offers the possibility of charging at public stations that are technologically connected into one unit with the neighboring corporate charging facilities in the premises of Prague Energetics.
"We launched our first public charging station for electric vehicles in 2011 in a shopping center in Prague at Chodov. Since then, we have come a long way in electromobility. We are approaching the number of one thousand charging stations and are building modern high-capacity charging HUBs, such as this one on Novovysočanská Street,"
stated in a press release by the CEO of Pražská energetika Pavel Elis.
Which models are among the best-selling?
Last year, customers worldwide bought 20 million vehicles that can be plugged in and charged. Most of them did so in China, where the market share of electric cars is 53 percent. In Europe, it was 28 percent. The United States is increasingly lagging behind these two regions, with the share of electric cars below ten percent.
Are you interested in how many different types of electric cars are available on the market? According to statisticians and agencies, there are about 630! However, just five models account for twenty percent of the total sales volume, experts note. These are Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3, Geely Geometry Xingyuan, Wuling HongGuang Mini, and BYD Seagull. Our Škoda is not currently among the models listed.
Domestic Škoda models top the local rankings, though. The larger and more expensive Enyaq is more successful with 1,269 units. Elroq lags behind by two hundred units. Only these two types of cars managed to surpass the threshold of a thousand units from January to May this year. In third and fourth place are Tesla Y and Tesla Model 3. Toyota still has two representatives in the top ten. Specifically, these are the bZ4X and C-HR models. The only representative of Chinese brands in the local top 10 is the Sealion 7, which ranks eighth with more than 110 sold units.
Sources: original article, own inquiries, ČTK, PRE
