Thousands of green buses in 2020
Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s Minister of Development, has a plan. Soon, Poland will join the green revolution. Polish economy is to get a boost from electric mobility, he says.
Electric cars do not enjoy great popularity in Poland, but so far the government did not act in any way to jolt interest in this technology.
The Minister sees the switch from petrol-fueled engines to electric engines as a great opportunity for the country. Polish companies are to jump on the bandwagon of green technologies in transportation. Polish engineers are to take the world by storm with electric buses.
Mateusz Morawiecki together with Krzysztof Tchórzewski, Minister of Energy, presented a plan for electric mobility at Warsaw University of Technology. The initiative is to foster cooperation between universities, business and the state. The aim is to create Polish e-Bus, an electricity-powered bus produced in Poland and from components designed and manufactured in Poland.
The Ministry announced the creation of Electronic Mobility Fund and Centre for Electric Mobility. Funding is to come from the EU and from Polish Development Fund. 11 thousand buses currently on Polish roads are to be replaced with motor vehicles running on electric energy.
Electric engines produce less fumes than regular engines. Increased numbers of electric buses and electric cars will result in better air quality, for which Polish cities are notorious. This type of engine produces less noise as well.
Morawiecki estimates that in 20 years from now the number of electric vehicles will reach 500 million. Creation of new technology is a chance for Polish industry. The estimated market size for electric buses is 2.5 billion PLN. In Poland there are already companies working on electricity-driven buses. These are Solaris, Ursus, Autosan and Volvo.
Polish towns and cities may expect incentives for choosing electric buses over fuel-powered vehicles and extra financing for the development for new infrastructure.
Legal changes are to be introduced to facilitate creation of charging stations. What we can expect are some new regulations in the areas of energy law, construction law, public road law, public procurement law, and the act on local taxes and charges.
The programme is to create new jobs, give boost to the industry and promote Polish industry, technologies and innovation. If Minister Morawiecki’s vision comes to life, in 10 years on Polish roads there are going to be over 1 million electric cars.
