All new cars electric in Flanders? It will be in 2029 (Update)

Thursday night, the Flemish government has finally reached an agreement on its updated climate plan. The general aim is to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% in 2030. The major contribution of the car sector will be the obligation to go electric for 2029 in new car sales. As an update, we added some more reactions.

The most critical compromise agreed between the different governmental parties is the delay until 2029 of the obligation to buy electric for new cars. The same obligation for second-hand cars (foreseen for 2030) is abandoned.

Concerning public transport, the bus fleet has to become greener. On the transport side, the road pricing will be steered so that greener transport will be more financially attractive. There are plans to enlarge this to the critical sector of (delivery) vans.

Important restrictions

The plan to forbid the sales of ICE vehicles (cars and vans) as of 2029 is subject to three binding conditions. The offer of BEVs has to be sufficient, the charging infrastructure must be adequate to cope with demand, and, last but not least, electric cars have to be cheaper than ICE equivalents.

For the last condition, it is essential to know if this comparison concerns the total cost of ownership (TCO) or simply the list price. According to the biggest coalition partner N-VA, it’s the latter.

Realistically ambitious

According to the Flemish government, the climate plan is ‘realistically ambitious’. Flanders heightened its target to 40% less CO2 emissions compared to the 2005 level and is very proud to be the second in Europe to go for electric cars only as of 2029. The leader here is Norway, which decided that all new cars must be electric from 2025 onward.

“It doesn’t make sense to show ambitions you can’t realize,” says Jan Jambon, Flanders’ Minister-President. “The measures taken have to be reachable and stay affordable.”

Critical considerations

With the ambition of 40% CO2 reduction, of which 35% still have to be realized in the coming nine years, Flanders is still a far cry away from the European ‘Fit for 55’ target. In that plan the CO2 reduction for Belgium is pinpointed at 47%. This means that Wallonia and Brussels have to do better than Flanders to compensate for the difference.

The Flemish association of employers VOKA is disappointed by the absence of a road pricing system in the new plan. “The other measures aim in the right direction but we see the absence of any sort of road pricing as a missed chance,” says CEO Hans Maertens.

VOKA points at the fact that a smart system of road pricing not only reduces CO2 emissions but also remediates traffic congestion. “How many studies about the necessity of such a system will still be needed,” is their outcry.

It’s worth noticing that VOKA and the biggest Flemish political party N-VA are completely opposite to each other in this matter while, usually, they are very close in their views on societal matters.

The association of small employers Unizo is partly happy with the plan but doesn’t understand why the target of 40% is put forward while the whole country has to go for 47% according to the EU.

“Unless Wallonia and Brussels (or the federal government) go further, Belgium will end up with additional measures and fines,” fears Danny Van Asche, the CEO at Unizo. The CEO has also its doubts about the timing of the out roll of charging infrastructure. “I hope this plan is the incentive to effectively install those 100 000 public charging points needed,” he adds.

The national federation of employers (VBO) is happy that there is a plan but regrets the lack of uniformity between the climate plans of the different regions. “Climate and pollution don’t stop at regional borders,” says VBO spokesman Benoit Monteyne. “If we want to realize the 47% reduction, thorough coordination is needed.”

Too little, too slow, too one-sided

The opposition in the Flemish Parliament isn’t particularly happy with the climate plan. According to the green party Groen, the Flemish government is pushing all the difficult choices toward the citizens instead of taking the necessary decisions themselves.

“The measures proposed will be at the expense of the modal Flemish citizen,” says MP Björn Rzoska. “Agriculture and industry remain largely unaffected.” That’s also the opinion of left-wing parties like Vooruit and PVDA.

Fundamental criticism

A lot of analysts and experts criticize the latest political decisions within the EU as being too single-sighted. Instead of forcing one sort of energy source (electricity), authorities should set the most stringent emission restrictions but shouldn’t interfere in the way to realize them.

Federal Minister of Energy Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen) says to be frustrated beyond measure about the Flemish plan. Her criticism concerns the lack of ambition as well as the defective deployment of the plan. “A government can’t put the cost and the realization of its plans entirely on the shoulders of its citizens,” she remarks.

The Flemish Network against Poverty says that the Flemish plan is a step forward but also a missed chance. “Where mobility is concerned, the plan is completely inadequate,” says coordinator Heidi Degerickx. “Poor people are simply neglected and abandoned. Transport poverty is a big problem for people wit low income. They count on public transport to get out of their social isolation, they can”t buy a car, surely not an electric one. For public transport there is underinvestment.”

Belgium not really ‘EV ready’

Further so, it may be a little too ambitious for Flanders to claim the second position in adapting to electric driving. A recent survey of Zutobi, the American Drivers’ education organization, shows that in the ‘EV ready index’ of European countries well prepared to embrace electric mobility, Belgium scores 29th place out of 32 countries.

In the top three, we find the usual suspects: Norway is number one, followed by the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The three countries that are doing even worse than Belgium are the Czech Republic, Italy, and… Germany.

The criteria taken into account for the index are the cost to fully load a Tesla Model 3, the number of people searching for information about EVs, the percentage of vehicles already being electric, and the number of public charging stations.