The Federation Council has approved the law on the creation of parking lots for electric cars with chargers in St. Petersburg. However, auto experts doubt that the intention will be quickly realized.
Places for electric cars should be allocated separately. According to auto expert Alexander Kholodov, these will be locations inside regular paid parking lots, RuNews24.ru news agency has learned.
The document states that the number of such places will be determined depending on the city's need for them. Today, according to statistics, the number of electric cars in the total mass of vehicles, excluding public transport, is just over one percent.
It is interesting how the wording of some of the provisions of the bill changed during the discussion process. Thus, in the second reading, the term “shall” was replaced by “may” in the part of the obligations to create such parking lots. All this indicates the absence of a clear mechanism for the creation and operation of parking lots with electric charging, it was noted during the readings.
Nevertheless, the document should be accepted for implementation. Here is how auto expert, member of the Public Chamber, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation with the ONC Alexander Kholodov assesses these prospects:
“I think it comes down to the fact that we legally have a lot of paid parking downtown right now, which is where the city gets paid. Passing the law would allow spaces for electric vehicles to be designed and built in those city parking lots. It is unlikely that any separate areas will be used for this purpose and something will be built separately,” Alexander Kholodov told RuNews24.ru.
The automobile community of St. Petersburg is skeptical about the rapid implementation of the initiative. Thus, the existing building codes allow to equip with chargers no more than ten car spaces in an underground parking lot with the area up to 1200 square meters. m. If the norm is exceeded, part of the space must be allocated in a separate fire section.
Variations in the design of connectors can also be a problem. Their type depends on the country of manufacture and the market. North America and Asia have one type of connector, while Europe has another. In addition, the installation of electric charging stations will require additional power supply, which is not always possible, especially in the city center.