Cars There may be 600,000 electric cars at the end of the decade – more subsidies may be needed to build charging stations in rural areas

Again in a few years, the electric car will probably no longer need to be shelled out, as will the internal combustion engine car. Professor Heikki Liimatainen According to the University of Tampere, according to some estimates, there will be little difference in the purchase prices of electric and internal combustion cars in the late 2020s.

“And if life cycle costs are reduced, then already in that sense an electric car is cheaper than an internal combustion engine car with a calculation period of 10–15 years,” says Liimatainen.

The number of electric cars in Finland will be greatly increased by the end of this decade. In September, the Ministry of Transport and Communications published a forecast that there would be 600,000 electric cars in our country by 2030.

According to Liimatainen, the ministry’s forecast seems realistic, especially considering that it includes charging hybrids in addition to all-electric cars.

“As a number of cars, that 600,000 is certainly achievable, and hopefully the distribution will be more towards half-full electric cars by 2030,” says Liimatainen.

At present, there are more than 2.8 million passenger cars on the register in Finland. Against this figure, by far the majority of the car fleet would still be powered by an internal combustion engine by the end of the decade.

Finnish Transport and Communications Agency According to Traficom’s statistics, the share of fully electric passenger cars in first registrations was 14.3 per cent in November, and the number of imported fully electric cars used has also been growing steadily throughout the year.

“If you compare it to the situation a year ago, then the share of all-electric cars in first registrations has been only 3.6 percent, which is a really huge increase,” says the leading expert. Outi Shooter From Traficom.

The sales subsidy of EUR 2,000, which has been in use since 2018, contributes to the sales of electric cars. According to Ampuja, the application volumes are also growing strongly.

“4,315 grants have been awarded this year,” when more than 2,000 procurement aid decisions were made throughout last year.

The aim is to direct motorists to electric cars with the abolition of the car tax on all-electric cars, which came into force in October. For the time being, however, there are almost twice as many hybrid cars sold in Finland as all-electric cars.

“Yes, that ratio should be reversed in order for those emission reductions to be significantly achieved. One factor may be that all-electric cars are not yet available in smaller car size classes, ”says Heikki Liimatainen.

Electric cars as the network of electronic charging points becomes more widespread, more is also required. The European Union is currently updating the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive. According to the new proposal, by the end of 2030, there should be charging stations every 60 kilometers that meet the minimum requirements.

According to traffic control company Fintraffic, between May and December this year, there was a relatively large increase in the number of charging points in Finland. In May, there were just over 5,600 different charging points for electric cars, but by December, that number had grown to more than seven thousand.

Fintraffic’s Director of Effectiveness Mikko Saariaho says that the rapid increase in the number of download points can be explained by the fact that data has been collected more comprehensively. In any case, according to Saariaho, it seems that the charging infrastructure in Finland is gradually developing at the same time as the number of vehicles being loaded in traffic is increasing.

According to a review of the state of the art industry, there are currently 35 all-electric cars per fast or high-power charging point.

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“Sure, a fully electric car is most often charged at home, but yes, this public charging franchise has been expanding all the time,” says Traficom’s Shooter.

There are recharging points in large cities and along main roads, but outside the main roads the situation is more challenging.

“Roads with a little less traffic can have trouble getting enough recharging points on market terms. Perhaps such targeted support for the development of charging infrastructure will be needed to some extent in the future in order to have a comprehensive network, ”says Professor Liimatainen from the University of Tampere.