In recent months, the electric car market has experienced unprecedented activity, as a result of which the number of electric cars registered in Latvia passed the 3,500 mark last October. At the same time, the number of these cars does not even represent one percent of the total Latvian car market.
This is according to data from the Road Safety Directorate (CSDD). Currently, over 869,000 vehicles are registered in Latvia, 70% of which run on diesel, 27% on petrol and 0.4% on electricity. Although the number of electric cars currently does not represent even one percent of the total Latvian car market, experts point out that interest in this type of car has increased significantly recently. This is also confirmed by the CSDD data: 1,367 new electric cars were registered in our country in 10 months, but compared to 2018 the number of electric cars increased by 3,216. CSDD indicates that most of the electric cars, or 2,675, currently belong to legal entities.
Habits change
The demand for new electric cars is very high, says Izīda Gerkena, executive director of the Moller Auto group of companies in the Baltic states. “It is affected by both rising fuel prices and available state support, so we expect interest in the possibility of buying an electric car will only grow in the future. Although the overall price increase has certainly led to Due to changes in buying habits, interest in electric cars is not waning. On the contrary, due to the increase in the price of electricity, people are taking advantage of the opportunity to install solar panels, which are also a solution for charging electric cars. It should also be emphasized that an electric car is also a sustainable and climate-friendly vehicle, offering its owner many benefits, including lower taxes, reduced maintenance costs, free parking and other extras, “he explains. I. Gerkena.
Although the electric car market in Latvia has developed rapidly in recent years, the situation could have changed considerably by the agreement of the environment ministers of the European Union (EU) countries to end the sale of new cars with electric engines. internal combustion by 2035.
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