LeasePlan Announces Electric Vehicles Readiness Index!

According to the LeasePlan Electric Vehicle Readiness Index, the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles and the availability of electric vehicles have increased significantly over the past year. The countries most prepared for the electric vehicle revolution were Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, respectively. Norway, where electric vehicles constitute 53 percent of newly licensed vehicles, maintained its leadership in this area. The country with the most electric charging stations open to the public was the Netherlands with 83 thousand 196 units, while in 2018, there were 4.8 electric charging stations for 1000 people in the Netherlands and 4.5 electric power stations for 1000 people in Norway. As one of the world's largest fleet leasing companies, LeasePlan, which manages a huge fleet of vehicles in 32 countries on five continents, shared the results of the Electric Vehicle Readiness Index. The research, published by LeasePlan before the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos every year, which reveals the spread of electric vehicles with figures, has reached remarkable results this year as well. For the first time in the index, which includes 22 European countries, all participating countries showed improvement in electric vehicles in 2018 and increased their scores. The countries most prepared for the electric vehicle revolution were Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria, respectively. Norway maintained its lead with electric vehicles accounting for 53 percent of newly licensed vehicles in the country. There are 4.8 charging stations for 1000 people! According to the LeasePlan index, the main reasons for the increase in the level of readiness for electric vehicles were the improvement of the charging infrastructure of vehicles and the increase in the availability of electric vehicle models. The country with the most electric charging stations open to the public was the Netherlands with 83 thousand 196 units, followed by Germany with 37 thousand 405 units and France with 34 thousand 558 units. In 2018, there were 4.8 electric charging stations per 1000 people in the Netherlands, 4.5 charging stations per 1000 people in Norway and 1.9 charging stations per 1000 people in Luxembourg. Austria, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands ranked highest in terms of advantageous tax breaks and purchasing subsidies provided by the state for electric vehicles. "State support for taxes and infrastructure is a must" TexGunning, CEO of LeasePlan, said: "Politicians need to come forward and take a common stand on vehicle taxes and infrastructure issues to make electric vehicles a viable option for everyone across Europe. Our index shows that electric vehicles are becoming an increasingly viable option. However, we still have a long way to go to get the wider masses to use electric vehicles. "The transition to electric vehicles is one of the simplest things we can do to help our fight against climate change, and everyone must have a contribution in this fight to protect the environment." Regarding Turkey's readiness for electric vehicles, LeasePlan Turkey General Manager Türkay Oktay made the following comments: "While electric vehicles are currently emerging as cost-effective options for drivers in different European countries and therefore usage is increasing day by day, we know that although we do not take part in this index study, unfortunately the figures are far behind in Turkey. In order for electric vehicles to be a more accessible and effective alternative, the tax and charging infrastructure supports to be given by the legislators are very important. We must not forget that electric vehicles are one of the best ways to combat climate change, and these eco-friendly vehicles should be accessible to everyone. As LeasePlan, in line with our sustainability strategy, we continue our actions both globally and locally to expand the use of electric vehicles with our net 0 emission target across our entire fleet by 2030."