Billionaire Mats Qviberg is the chairman of Sweden's second-largest chain of car dealerships. And even though they sell thousands of electric cars, the chairman believes people are turning a blind eye to the technology.
Swedish billionaire Mats Qviberg, chairman of the car group Bilia, believes that many people are turning a blind eye to electric cars, even though the technology behind them still has significant shortcomings.
He writes this in an opinion piece for Dagens Industri , where he criticizes both electric car technology and Sweden's scrap metal premium, which he calls downright 'idiotic'.
Bilia is Sweden's largest Volvo dealer and one of the country's largest car dealership chains. The company sells thousands of electric cars annually, but Qviberg believes that the discussion about electric cars often lacks nuance.
He highlights, among other things, that gasoline and diesel cars continue to improve, and that focusing only on promoting electric cars can overshadow other solutions that could also benefit the environment.
In the debate, Qviberg criticizes the government's scrappage premium, which was introduced in August. He calls the scheme "idiotic" because, according to him, it does not take into account the actual challenges that many motorists face.
He describes the 10,000 Swedish kronor prize given to those who replace their old car with an electric car as insufficient.
He argues that many people with old gasoline and diesel cars cannot afford an electric car, which often costs several hundred thousand kroner.
He also highlights practical problems with electric cars. For example, he points out that charging stations do not always work optimally when it is cold. Which not only can be, but is a real challenge in a country like Sweden.
Qviberg instead proposes a more general and higher scrappage premium that is not tied to the purchase of electric cars. He believes that a higher scrappage premium for all older cars could motivate more people to invest in newer, more fuel-efficient cars. Something that would also benefit the country's own car production.
According to Qviberg, such a scheme will not only strengthen environmental efforts, but also reduce the number of car wrecks that end up abandoned in nature.
He emphasizes that it is important to look at multiple solutions rather than unilaterally focusing on electric cars that cannot yet and may never live up to all expectations.
