He emphasises once more that every station for charging has great power.
- So, in order for the network to develop further first you need to build power stations connect them to high-voltage network and then to chargers. We are then talking about two investments - for power stations and for the chargers, Despotovic explains.
SubventionsWhile EU countries give tax exemptions for electric car purchases, Serbia doesn't-t give subventions and the registration procedure is complicated too. Countries in the region have subvention programs too. For instance Croatian Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund has recently called its citizens to apply for incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. Applications ended the very next day due to sufficient number of requests within the allocated funds up to EUR 1,62 million (HNK 12 million). Subsidies for citizens go from EUR 670 (HNK 5,000) up to 10,700 (HNK 80,000).
The corresponding infrastructure development is in progress concurrent with the greater number of electric vehicles on Croatian roads. Croatian Telekom and Romanian company Renovatio are working on a project within which 69 stations featuring fast electric car chargers and should be installed in both countries, and
of that number 23 stations would be in Romania.At the end of 2017 there was a possibility for progress when it comes to subsidies for this area when the Serbian Government announced forming a working group for this purpose and announced a case study with the optimal solution proposal by the end of 2019.
By the way, introducing such subsidies is one of the 13 measures defined by the Energy Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia by 2025 with projections up to 2030 in order to fulfill the goals set in the sector of renewable energy sources.
Besides the lack of subsidies, the procedure involving electric car imports into Serbia is complicated too. If the driver wanted to import a new electric vehicle in to Serbia they will have to procure homologation documents from the manufacturer and to use it to ask for a confirmation about the same from the Road Traffic Safety Agency.
Considering the circumstances, the lack of subsidies and corresponding infrastructure as well as the standard of living, professor Despotovic thinks that hybrid vehicles are a reality for Serbia. Such vehicles use mechanical drive on severe acclivities and electric drive on straight routes, which demands less power. Another advantage of hybrid vehicles is that while using mechanical drive they can also recharge the battery.
Katarina Stevanović