“We should join our forces to start building an infrastructure for electromobility. Otherwise we will continue to worry what comes first: the chicken or the egg. And we have to have both – the egg and the chicken, which will result in a snowball effect”, says Brunon Bartkiewicz, CEO of ING Bank Śląski, in an interview with WNP.pl.
- A pilot electric carsharing project recently ended in Warsaw, carried out in cooperation with ING Bank Śląski. The project is to be expanded.
- In Katowice and Łódź bank employees use several electric cars. The number will grow.
- ING Bank Śląski is open to cooperation with energy groups to support electromobility.
Recently, ING Bank Śląski published a report stating that electric cars only make economic sense in Poland if they cover more than 50 thousand kilometres annually. On the other hand, the bank plans to be more involved in electromobility. Is that not contradictory?
“In our opinion no. Like every new sector, each new area, electromobility requires an incubation period. Factors have to be found to support development. There is no contradiction here.
“On the one hand, this is a reference to those who may cause the economic calculus to improve, while on the other we have no doubt at all that technological progress will move the break-even point much closer. But to this end, it is necessary to build infrastructure such as these charging points”.
Recently, a pilot electric carsharing project was ended in Warsaw, carried out in cooperation with ING Bank Śląski. Will the program be continued?
“Yes, we intend to expand it since we believe in carsharing as a new formula for moving around cities and their surrounding areas; we also believe that with carsharing it will be easier to introduce electromobility to the daily lives of individual consumers and enterprises, who will find in it a way to resolve the issue of car fleets or company cars”.
In Katowice and Łódź the Bank operates a few cars for its staff. Will the number grow?
“We plan to increase the number mainly because they have been very well received by our staff. Our employees feel very good about the new arrangement that the bank has demonstrated, and which gives priority to trips within the cities and their near surroundings in electric cars. They like it so much that we will be expanding the program. Obviously, we will also use electric scooters and electric bikes. This is an element of our development plan”.
In the development of electromobility, ING Bank Śląski used to cooperate with innogy and has now started cooperating with Tauron. Do you plan to cooperate with other energy groups?
“Yes. We are open to such cooperation. We should join forces to start building an infrastructure for electromobility. Let society get accustomed to the new form, which requires certain expenditures and also that charging points need to be built. Otherwise, we will continue to worry about what comes first: the chicken or the egg. And we have to have both the egg and the chicken, which will result in a snowball effect”.
Source: www.eecpoland.eu