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The beginning of September belonged to the exhibition of electric cars in Košice, the largest exhibition ever

From Friday the 3rd to Sunday the 5th of September, the largest specialized salon focused exclusively on electromobility took place in Košice. As part of the exhibition, which took place in the Atrium Optima Košice shopping center, visitors could enjoy the experience from 60 models of electric cars, plug-in hybrids and electric motorcycles from the most famous brands. Test drives and an engaging program consisting of panel discussions and lectures attracted thousands of visitors to the shopping center.

The list of exhibited models also included the most famous brands such as Škoda, Citroën, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Hyundai, Renault, Ford, Mazda, Audi, Opel, Kia, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Range Rover. Among the exhibitors, visitors could also see attractive news that were presented for the first time in Slovakia – the new EQS from the Mercedes-EQ brand, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and also the Tesla Model Y. The Harley-Davidson electric model was a surprise for motorcycle fans.

Electromobility in self-government – subsidies for infrastructure

Shortly after the opening of the exhibition, which took place on Friday, September 3, an online presentation dealing with the issue of electromobility in self-government and state subsidies for infrastructure followed. The presentation was led by Andrej Krajňák from the Department of Industrial Development of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic (MH SR). He clarified how the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic tried to address the issue of electromobility in the past and what are the plans for the future. The ambition of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic is to increase the number of DC charging points by 600 pieces and the number of AC charging points by up to 2400 pieces by 2026. They have a great opportunity thanks to the Plan of Recovery and Resilience of the Slovak Republic, which was approved in April this year.

As part of the presentation “Electromobility in self-government and infrastructure subsidies “ the participants learned about the plans to support electromobility until 2027 and received answers to questions concerning technical assistance for local governments or the possibility of obtaining subsidies for the selection of charging sites.

By electric car from east to west

Subsequently, in the first official discussion entitled By electric car from east to west. Do we have enough charging stations? Andrej Bábsky, Head of Business Development at ZSE Drive, Vladimír Kukučka, Sales Representative for Electromobility ABB and Peter Badík, co-founder and managing partner of Greenway, spoke.

The gentlemen discussed the relatively common topic of building a charging infrastructure. Thanks to this discussion, visitors were able to learn that charging stations are not a barrier to the growth of electric cars today, despite the fact that the visual number of stations is still a block of buying an electric car. “Actions like this are really advancing and moving the industry forward. People will be looking for an increasingly common path to electric cars, and it is important to have market penetration outside the capital and regional cities, whether in fast charging or even in slow motion. “ added Cuckoo.

Andrej Bábsky, from ZSE Drive, stated in a panel discussion that he considers the lack of operator connections in shopping centers to be the biggest barrier to the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The discussion also raised the issue of parking policy and the lack of parking spaces to be reserved for charging electric cars.

The panel discussion also raised the issue of buying electric cars for companies

An important part of the panel discussions was the debate on the purchase of an electric car as a company car. The direction in which the transport in the companies will take us in a panel discussion Which electric car pays off for the company funded representatives of Motor-Car Košice, ČSOB Leasing and HoppyGo presented. Experts answered relevant questions concerning the growing demand for electric cars, the possibility of leasing financing for electric cars or current trends in the sale and rental of electric cars for companies.

Motor-Car Košice also presented the new Mercedes-EQ, which is the fourth fully electric model, as part of an individual presentation. Sebastián Nagy, a product expert at Mercedes-Benz, announced that they would like to have one electric version in each model line within three years.

Selection of a suitable electric car

Kristián Kratochvíl from the non-profit organization EVLERS within the presentation What car to buy and why to pay attention gave 10 reasons why people choose electric cars. The most common responses from participants included a lower price, cheaper operation or a quieter and more comfortable ride. Kratochvíl supplemented the facts for which he would choose an electric car, namely zero road tax and low service costs. The presentation also offered practical advice and information for owners of electric cars.

The representative of the non-profit organization EVLERS also pointed out road assistants, which should also be considered when choosing a suitable electric car. These include tips for charging service providers – AgeVolt, Ejoin, ZSE Drive and GreenWay, or community and paid maps where the user can monitor the availability and location of charging stations – PlugShare, Chargemap and A Better Routenplaner. When choosing a personal electric vehicle, we should especially ask questions about the purpose for which we want to use our new electric car or what options we have for domestic and public charging. So everyone should choose a vehicle that suits them and will be optimal for their needs.

A weekend full of experiences in the sign of electric cars

Thanks to the great initiative of the organizers, thousands of visitors were able to enjoy up to 60 electric vehicles and motorcycles. The number of exhibits has thus increased by up to 40% compared to last year. The salon strengthened and expanded the community of electric car enthusiasts and certainly showed a real view of electromobility to many visitors. This is evidenced by the fact that more than 400 test drives took place at the salon. The whole weekend was marked by an influx of information and good news from the field of electromobility, which you can see here. Photos from Salon Elektromobilov can be found here.


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