With an economy dominated by the internal combustion engine, the Czech government’s lukewarm attitude to electric vehicles is feeding into public scepticism. The country is missing a big opportunity.

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Expensive, largely useless and faking green credentials: the Czech public’s view of electric vehicles (EVs) is anything but positive. But despite the EU’s Fit for 55 mandate to make all new cars zero-emission within the next 15 years, the government here is doing little to change Czech minds.

With the Czech public hardly being discouraged from fretting about the limited range of EVs amid a scarcity of charging stations in the country, the switchover is moving at a snail’s pace. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), fully-battery powered EVs had a market share of just 1.6 per cent in 2020, meaning around 7,000 electric cars were patrolling Czech roads last year.

Advocates insist the dim view Czechs hold of EVs will start to change if only the government would offer some enthusiastic support, and if populist politicians stopped telling voters that the climate change fight is foreign dogma being imposed upon the country.

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The government has put just over 1 billion koruna (40 million euros) into supporting the development of over 2,000 charging points since November 2017, he reports. A further 6 billion koruna will be pumped into the effort in 2022-27.

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The company has previously estimated that around half the cost of new charging points it builds is covered by subsidies. But it won’t just be at CEZ that the coming boost in support will be celebrated.

I wonder how happy all the EV owners will be when electricity prices increase even more thanks to the EU and their emission permits. The EU is shooting itself in the foot here, but that's a good thing because more people will get redpilled.