The mobility sector accounts for almost 25.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Spain, mainly associated with road transport, which accounts for 95% of the CO₂ released into the atmosphere.To comply with the Paris Agreements and the decarbonisation objectives, the European Union has approved an ambitious measure that prohibits the sale of cars with combustion engines in 2035. A proposal that forces car manufacturers to accelerate their transition to cars while opening up new business models linked to more sustainable and efficient mobility.To analyze the latest trends associated with the sector, El Confidencial and Silence organized the forum 'The impact of the electric vehicle on cities'.In this event, the second of the 'Decarbonise cities' cycle, carried out together with Acciona, the following participated: María José Rallo del Olmo, Secretary General of Transport and Mobility;Rafael del Río, technical director of the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility (Aedive);Cristina Mateo, Vice Dean of the School of Architecture and Design at IE University, and Iván Maura, Director of Business Development at Silence.Of the nearly 110 million tons of CO₂ emitted by road transport per year, 49.6% is recorded on high-speed roads, mostly on intercity routes, while 36.6% corresponds to urban areas, and the remaining (13.8%), to intermediate transport.To reduce emissions in the urban area, "pedestrians and bicycles have been placed for the first time in the highest part of the mobility pyramid. The ministry, together with the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) , has launched a call for 1,000 million euros in subsidies for digital and sustainable mobility, of which about 40% are focused on promoting healthy mobility", explained the Secretary General for Transport and Mobility.With the price of fuel exceeding two euros at the pump and the latest European regulations on the end of combustion engines, the markets should blow in favor of the electric car to boost its sales: "It is true that sales are accelerating of electric cars, but not enough", said the technical director of the Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility (Aedive).In addition, Del Río pointed out that there is still a certain lack of knowledge about this technology, both about its reliability and about its autonomy and recharging points, "something that ends up confusing the consumer."In a market dominated by the Nordic countries, such as Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, "Spain is in 13th place in sales of electric cars, but if we talk about total charging infrastructure, we are in eighth place, in fifth position in number of plugs intended for travel, and in third position in charging locations, only behind Germany and France", detailed the technical director of the employer's association for electric mobility.According to estimates of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), Spain will have a fleet of electric vehicles that will be around five million in 2030, so it should have a public infrastructure of around 300,000 charging points. public access and some three million private outlets in homes or offices to meet this demand.In this sense, the director of Business Development at Silence asked the administrations to be more ambitious in their aid and subsidy plans to reindustrialize the Spanish productive fabric: "For the sector to grow, we need the public sector to support mobility models For example, the Plan Moves III aid for electric quadricycles reaches up to 2,000 euros, which seems small compared to the 7,000 euros for electric cars. The same thing happens with the recharging infrastructure, it is necessary to install plugs in 'parkings', supermarkets, shopping centers, gas stations, etc.," he said."The 'sharing' needs clearer, simpler rules of the game and, above all, unified in the different cities" (Maura)This manufacturer of electric scooters, which has a battery exchange system for its motorcycles, will have its first four-wheeled vehicle this year: the Silence S04, a quadricycle —or 'nanocar'— 2.3 meters long. long, which also benefits from this system.As a new business model, `sharing´, or car/motorbike sharing, has spread in some Spanish cities.A trend that, according to Maura, "will have much more development, and that will mean a change in the activities of the manufacturers. Rather than buy, drivers prefer to rent by the minute, day or month."For this to happen in Spain, "sharing" needs clearer, simpler and, above all, unified rules of the game in the different cities. Some homogenization of permits and licenses would be necessary so that companies know how and where to invest ", Said the director of Silence.In addition to the private sector and inter-administrative collaboration, the vice-dean of the School of Architecture and Design at IE University highlighted the importance of the citizen as the third leg of more sustainable and responsible mobility."We must be more aware of our environment, and for this it is necessary that the public sector, the private sector and citizens go hand in hand and work together," she explained.Mateo gave as an example "the cities of proximity, in which all services are 15 minutes away. And the models of 'cities with a third space', where the center is not the workplace or the home, but something in between to promote coexistence. European and Spanish cities have a lot of this third space and we must continue to promote it. They are parks, public or private spaces, squares or the streets themselves".To access the public access recharging network, one of the main obstacles encountered by drivers is the lack of unification of mobile applications and plug features."The EU has just approved a single charger for mobile phones" starting in the fall of 2024, explained the Director of Business Development at Silence, "we must go in that direction to establish a stable investment framework for companies."Other problems that slow down the deployment of the infrastructure for the electric car continue to be delays in administrative procedures."From the first permits until the recharging point is installed, between one and two years can pass, when the work is carried out in a month and a half. We have 17 regional administrations with different criteria and different interpretations. In an analysis of how long it takes cities to respond to the first request, we found that the one that took the least 52 days and the one that took the longest, 265 days. We need greater agility in all administrative areas," said Del Río, who considered it appropriate to establish a single window to attend all requests and avoid the bottlenecks faced by the Administration.With political will, added the technical director of Aedive, "the amount of energy stored by the large fleets of electric cars of the 'sharing' companies and the surplus of the private ones could be reverted to the network".Within a scheme in which the battery of the electric car is charged during the hours of less demand, generally at night, and the user reverts part of the remaining energy in the hours of greater consumption and when the car is inactive, as would be working hours."By 2030, immersive virtual reality (VR) platforms and the metaverse can be a challenge, because there will be many people who do not want to move so much from their homes. Therefore, we need easy mobility, affordable for all pockets, and easy to access. It is also a challenge for physical and mental health," said Mateo.The mobility sector accounts for almost 25.4% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Spain, mainly associated with road transport, which accounts for 95% of the CO₂ released into the atmosphere.To comply with the Paris Agreements and the decarbonisation objectives, the European Union has approved an ambitious measure that prohibits the sale of cars with combustion engines in 2035. A proposal that forces car manufacturers to accelerate their transition to cars while opening up new business models linked to more sustainable and efficient mobility.