The Automobile Club Luxembourg (ACL) has 190,000 members. Not all of them are convinced by the switch to electric cars, however, as shown by an ACL survey on mobility-related issues. Said, ACL president , commenting on the survey results: “I was really surprised by members’ responses concerning the technological diversity of engines. I didn’t think our members would reject fully electric vehicles so widely. On the other hand, I think it shows that we shouldn’t take people for idiots… there are a lot of questions surrounding electric vehicles and not enough answers. Our members, as well as a large number of experts and more recently the European Court of Auditors, have expressed serious doubts about the feasibility of going all-electric.”

The aim of the conference--taking place on 25 October at 7:00pm in Bascharage, and open to the public--is no doubt to contextualise these survey results, answer questions and perhaps dispel a few preconceived ideas about electromobility. It will be the tenth conference of its kind this year, each one being held in a different commune in order to reach more people. “As part of the energy transition, switching from a combustion engine to an electric or hybrid engine raises many questions. The aim of this public conference is to enlighten participants on all the aspects involved in a new purchase,” said the ACL.

Some questions to be covered at the conference include: How should you choose an electric car? What incentives are available for electric cars and charging stations? How do you install a charging point at home? What are the battery types and how are they recycled?

Target: 49% electric cars by 2030

Speaking at the conference will be Frank Maas, responsible for promoting mobility solutions at the ACL (and a trained mechanic), and Patrick Théry, the ACL’s editorial manager. Among other things, they will discuss the phenomenon of “phantom consumption,” or the loss of efficiency or energy across the entire electrical system (i.e., from charging point to storage to consumption).

Today, Luxembourg has a solid charging infrastructure, with 2,000 charge points above 22kW and 169 fast charge points accessible to the public. The rollout of the basic Chargy national public network is almost complete, with at least one Chargy charging point per municipality and a total of 1,559 charging points of this type throughout the country. According to a ChargeUp Europe study, the country ranks second in Europe for its charging infrastructure per 100,000 inhabitants.

While the ACL is not in the business of training its members or forcing them to switch to electric vehicles, the stakes are high in view of the targets set, notably in the National Energy Climate Plan, which calls for 49% of the car fleet to be electrified by 2030. At the moment, this target is a long way off.

In September, the mobility and energy ministries reported that 10,401 new registrations had been recorded between January and August this year (including 7,114 fully electric cars). In total, 34,347 electric cars were on the road at the end of August. This represents just 7.52% of the total number of cars registered in the country.

Find more information about the conference (French only) on the .

This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.