Portugal leads way in electric cars

By Patrick Blum
Published: November 28, 2008

LISBON: António Pereira Joaquim is Nissan Motor's representative in Portugal, which has been chosen for rolling out the company's "zero-emission" electric car, to be marketed globally in 2010.
"The challenge is to make people believe it can work," Joaquim says.
The Japanese automaker and its French strategic partner, Renault, chose Portugal as one of several small markets to gauge the technology and consumer response under market conditions. There are similar plans in Denmark and Israel.Installation of a battery charging network will start next year and Nissan says the cars, made in Japan, will go on sale here starting in 2011.
The Portuguese government will oversee installation of the network of charging stations, which will offer a fast 20-minute battery top-up in the country's two major cities, Lisbon and Porto, and along some motorways. A recharge at home using the standard grid will take about six hours.
The infrastructure needs to be in place before the cars go on sale, and this could be a challenge for a country that has often seen deadlines slip and costs escalate on major projects.

But the government is enthusiastic and believes that success will burnish the country's image as a modern, environment-friendly location. It has assembled a consortium of some of the country's leading utilities and retail chains whose task will be to deliver a functioning network on time.
Analysts say motorists' confidence that they will have easy access to power is an important factor in deciding to switch to an electric car. A fully charged battery is expected to provide around 160 kilometers, or 100 miles of motoring - adequate for inner-city journeys, but potentially limiting for longer trips across the country.
"It's a chicken and egg situation. We need the infrastructure in place for people to buy the car. The question is, if I buy an electric car, how do I fuel it," said Nick Gill, automotive industry leader at the consultancy and services company Capgemini.
"People are afraid they'll be left stranded without a battery, but it's the same as with petrol. When the gauge shows you're low on gas you know it's time to look for the next petrol station," says Joaquim, using the British term for gasoline.
The price of the cars and the cost of leasing and recharging batteries will also be crucial factors.
Joaquim says electric cars should be tax free to help establish the market. Car tax is high in Portugal at around €3,000 to €4,000, or $4,000 to $5,000, for a conventional vehicle with a 1.5 litre engine.
"The government needs to guarantee that the network will happen and provide incentives so that we can offer the car at the right price," said Joaquim.
Nissan's electric car will be priced at around €25,000 in Portugal, which is roughly in line with a comparable 1.6 liter model running on conventional gasoline.
"People don't want to pay more for being green. The car cannot be more expensive" than a conventional gasoline powered model, Joaquim said. "If it's more expensive, it will be a failure, we will not do it."
"The challenge for the industry is how do you do this without loading back the costs on the consumer," said Gill.
Portuguese motorists may enjoy the feel-good factor of being among the first in Europe to opt for a "clean," zero-emission car, but they are likely to be even more enthusiastic about cutting their fuel bills, which are among the highest in the European Union.
Not only buying the car, but also driving it "has to be cheaper than using petrol," reiterated Joaquim.
That would be fine for consumers; but it could result in a loss of revenue for the government.
So, the key to success will be establishing a network pricing formula that encourages use, but "is not too expensive for the government," Gill said.