Just over two percent of the vehicle fleet on Slovenia’s roads is electric. Yet after years of lagging behind in sales of new electric vehicles, Slovenia has finally overtaken the European Union average this year. And just as sales finally began to take off — indeed, because they did — the money available for subsidies ran out. This bizarre turn of events exposes the fundamental unsustainability of the current model for transitioning to electric mobility.
Subsidies initially made sense. They helped solve the classic chicken-and-egg problem at a time when there were neither enough buyers nor enough affordable electric vehicle models. But whenever the funding ran out, demand fell sharply, leaving even buyers who had already ordered their vehicles without support. In Germany, the abrupt abolition of the Umweltbonus at the end of 2023 caused sales to fall by a third the following year, throwing the entire automotive industry off course.
The main problem with the transition to electric mobility lies in the structure of housing. Around 31 percent of households in Slovenia live in apartment buildings; in Ljubljana, the figure is as high as two-thirds. Most of them have no realistic possibility of installing their own charging point. Under current conditions, switching to an electric vehicle is therefore financially unattractive for these residents. Relying on public chargers stretches the payback period for the higher purchase price of an electric vehicle to almost a decade. But cost is not the only problem: there are simply too few public charging points. Ljubljana currently has only around 700 public charging points, and meeting its 2030 targets will require a fivefold increase in capacity.
The solution requires a fundamental rethink of national and local policy. Instead of spending most public money on direct incentives for purchasing vehicles, the focus should shift towards co-financing public and semi-public charging infrastructure and the urgently needed upgrading of the low-voltage electricity grid. Purchase incentives should remain, but at more modest levels and with long-term predictability, following a clear timetable for their gradual reduction through to 2030.
For people living in apartment buildings, it would make sense to introduce a right to charge, following the example of the Netherlands, where residents purchasing an electric vehicle can request the installation of a public charging point close to their home, up to a maximum distance of 250 metres away. Municipalities have a crucial role to play here. Their main task is to actively resolve ownership issues surrounding parking spaces in residential neighbourhoods and designate parts of public space for charging. Through public tenders aimed at energy companies, municipalities can attract private capital to invest in charging equipment. At the same time, appropriate parking regulations are needed to prevent charging spaces from being occupied once charging has been completed.
Building overnight charging infrastructure in residential neighbourhoods would ensure equal access to electric mobility for those who do not live in single-family homes. At the same time, it would give municipalities an opportunity to tackle parking management in these neighbourhoods. And that alone should be reason enough for them to take an interest.