Law brakes Wiener Small Transporters: E-vehicles are taboo!

Law brakes Wiener Small Transporters: E-vehicles are taboo!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - Vienna, December 13, 2024 - the pursuit of an emission -free future is on the brink! The current law for the use of electric vehicles brings massive hurdles for small transporters, as the chairwoman of the Viennese specialist group Small Transporters, Katarina Pokorny, makes clear. "We would like to be emissions -free," she emphasizes, but reality looks different. While private individuals and certain entrepreneurs are allowed to control electric vehicles with a weight of up to 4.25 tons, commercial small transporters are bound by the hands. This inequality is incomprehensible to Pokorny and hinders the development of e-mobility in the industry. According to the applicable EU regulation, small transporters are only allowed to drive vehicles with a total weight of a maximum of 3.5 tons, which makes the purchase of fully electrical means of transport unattractive. Because due to the high weight of the batteries, the supply loading options are significantly reduced, which endangers economic efficiency.

new challenges for small transporters

The introduction of standard consumption tax (Nova) from July 1, 2021 also complicates the situation. It also obliges light commercial vehicles that were previously released from the tax to submit what drives the costs for small transporters. "In most cases, switching to an electric vehicle is not realistic or economically sensible," explains Pokorny. This new tax is not only a direct burden for companies, but could also significantly increase prices for end customers. The lack of suitable electric vehicles and the lack of charging stations reinforce the problems, so that the hope for a comprehensive e-mobility in the transport industry is initially moving far away.

In order to counteract these grievances, the SPÖ has submitted an application to the National Council, which is intended to better take into account the economic and commercial disadvantages of the small transporters. "We hope that this application in the committee will not be dropped by the government parties. That would be catastrophic for the small transports and the whole industry," Pokorny appeals urgently. A rethinking at the political level is urgently needed to enable small transports to use electric vehicles and at the same time to secure economic successes, such as logistik-express.com reported.

The pressing challenges related to e-mobility in transport urgently require solutions to improve the economic reality of the companies concerned and not lose sight of the sustainable goals of mobility, emphasizes Pokorny. Also ots.at emphasizes the need for a change initiative to experience the same use of e-vehicles as private individuals.