The Swiss government, in cooperation with various businesses across the country, has announced plans to increase the share of electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads to 50 percent by 2025. The public, private and real estate coalition aims to rapidly increase the number of charging stations to help drivers make the switch to electric cars.

12.850 vehicle charging stations to be built in Switzerland

Currently, only 25,5 percent of vehicles registered in Switzerland are electric or a rechargeable hybrid. The consortium of government departments, international companies, energy providers and real estate companies have pledged to increase the share of eco-friendly vehicles on Swiss roads and motorways to 50 percent by 2025, in order to help achieve the country's climate goals.

To make this happen, the group has released a plan to increase the number of public charging stations from 7.150 to 20.000 in the next three years. At the same time, plans will be drawn up to create a “nationwide charging network,” incorporating and adding more charging points at service stations, houses and apartments, offices and on the roads themselves.

Group hopes to make electric cars in Switzerland more convenient

The announcement came as the group celebrated achieving its first official target of having 15 percent of all vehicles on Swiss roads be electric by 2022 - a target which it achieved a year earlier than scheduled. With the government’s new plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, the body hopes making electric cars more convenient will help contribute to this goal.

In addition, the government’s new environmental law, passed last November, is expected to impose strict limits on CO2 emissions for cars and other vehicles. There are some early signs that the policy is working, with auto-schweiz reporting that a fifth of all new cars imported to Switzerland last year were electric or hybrid.

Switzerland is still behind on climate goals

Despite the positive news, issues with passing climate-related referendums at the ballot box and failed emissions targets mean that the alpine nation is still behind on its climate goals. For example, by the end of 2020, CO2 emissions were reduced by 19 percent, failing the target of 20 percent despite COVID restrictions and warm weather during the winter.