Ghent (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ghent asks businesses to test 6 types of electric vehicles for a week to reduce pollution. Alderman Filip Watteeuw led the initiative. Businesses liked it but found costs high, especially moving companies.
Ghent invited businesses to try out electric vehicles. Businesses could apply to test 6 different types of electric vehicles for a week. They could test cargo bikes, light trucks, vans, refrigerated trucks, and box trucks.
The city wanted to help businesses see if electric vehicles worked for them. Many businesses are afraid to buy electric vehicles because they are expensive or they don’t know if they’ll work. Officials mentioned that this project gave businesses a chance to try them out without risk and see if they were a good fit.
According to officials, Filip Watteeuw, Ghent’s alderman for the environment, businesses need to try electric vehicles to understand them. He said that many businesses don’t want to switch because they don’t know much about electric vehicles.
This is part of Ghent’s plan to reduce pollution and make the air cleaner. The city wants to help businesses make good choices about transportation. They hope this will make the city more sustainable.
In this way, we try to introduce companies to emission-free vehicles. There are often still several thresholds, such as the investment cost. But unknown makes unloved, so we try to get the vehicles to companies,
says Filip Watteeuw.
How can Ghent help businesses afford electric vehicles?
Even though there is a subsidy from the government to help businesses buy electric vehicles, some businesses still can’t afford them. A moving company owner, Schollaert, said that even with help from the government, electric vehicles are too expensive. He said that he is waiting for the prices of electric vehicles to be the same as gas-powered vehicles.
He mentioned that it would be unfair to charge customers more just because they use an electric truck. It would be expensive compared to other moving companies that use gas trucks. This makes it hard for businesses to switch to electric vehicles, even though they know it’s good for the environment.
We are waiting until the prices are equalized. The cost price is the point where we always run aground,
says Schollaert.
Ghent is thinking about what to do next to help businesses use electric vehicles. A city leader, Filip Watteeuw, said that many businesses liked trying out the electric vehicles. But he said that the cost is a big problem.
He stated that the city will work out how to help businesses pay for electric automobiles. The city aims to make it easier for businesses to transition to electric vehicles. This will help the city become cleaner and less polluted.
In general, many companies were enthusiastic about this introduction. We are now going to see how we can extend that enthusiasm to other companies and then see what is possible in terms of budget,
says Watteeuw.
