On August 9, the consolidated financial results of the Lotos Capital Group were presented in Warsaw. You can say that it is good and it will be even better. Plans are being implemented, the network is growing, the public is more willing to travel and shopping at stations. Old Optima stations will gain a new glow, and there will be charging points for electric cars – writes Agata Rzędowska, editor of BiznesAlert.pl.
Dissonance
And here came a certain dissonance. The company invests in mining, modernizes refineries, is happy to sell more oil. Production and sales of diesel oil increased by 7,6 percent compared to the same quarter last year. I listen to the data read by one of the Board members and I have a simple string of associations: bigger mining, more sales, more Diesels… Society is becoming wealthier, but not enough to be able to afford new cars, the more electric. Therefore, it can be expected that it will be more willing to buy cars cheap. And what cars are the cheapest in those parts of Europe where authorities decide to introduce prohibitions and orders on emission standards? Those with diesel engines. Do Poles like cheap Diesels? Of course!
Expensive infrastructure
So what interest will the fuel companies have in developing charging networks that are expensive to buy and will not pay back quickly? Well, from my point of view, since you said A and adopted a plan for the development of electromobility, it’s time to say B and give the car owners a chance to start driving around Poland. So far, 2 133 electric cars have been registered in Poland, as reported by the Alternative Fuels Market Observatory, but of this 1150 are plug-in hybrids. So how can you „start” the market? By harnessing the company in which the state has its shares. This is not my original idea. There have already been representatives of key power companies mentioning that charging stations in the initial stage of market development should be created with the participation of state-owned companies.
Strong, but without sacrifices
We are in a difficult point. On the one hand, we have ambitions to become a strong country thanks to industry, we face the challenge of implementing circular economy models, and at the same time we would like to drive cheap cars, do not worry about fuels we use, do not segregate waste (because it will come anyway not one container). Difficult decisions must be made today by companies: bear the risk associated with the implementation of modern technologies, boldly admit that the end of motoring and mobility as we know it.
Little time, a lot of work
The electromobility development plan assumes that in Poland, with the end of 2020, there will be 6400 charging points. Only 400 of them will give you the option of fast charging. Today, there are slightly more than 100 charging points (not all of them are working yet). And there are almost 260 points in Poland. A lot of work is ahead of us. The companies that will put up the backbone infrastructure, including such fuel companies, will need a vision but also many hands to work in a short time. And it seems that neither one nor the other will be easy.