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Austria
To encourage electric vehicle purchases, during 2021, the Austrian government is subsidizing individual consumers ($6,000 per vehicle) and businesses ($4,800 per vehicle) and has already invested in electric charging infrastructure nationwide. While petrol-driven vehicles are still the most popular choice, electric vehicles are catching up. According to the government`s mobility agency Austria Tech, the number of new electric and plug-in hybrid passenger car registrations grew significantly from a 3.5% market share in 2019 to 9.5% in 2020. Furthermore, the number of charging points has doubled in the last 2 years to reach 8,395 locations as of the end of 2020.
Austrian automotive component manufacturers heavily focus on emission-optimized and energy-efficient solutions, typically in close collaboration with their OEM clients. Examples include the further development of conventional combustion engines, lighter vehicle construction, the development of new drive and assistance systems. These developments offer great opportunities around eco-drive trains and eco-materials as well as smart manufacturing.
Looking ahead, Austrian government and industry are also increasingly focused on hydrogen mobility. For example, Postbus (Austria's largest bus company) and Wiener Linien (Vienna`s public transport company) are leading efforts to shift to hydrogen buses in the future. The Austrian headquartered oil and gas company OMV is expanding its infrastructure of hydrogen pumps at its filling stations. Furthermore, the world's first hydrogen-powered narrow-gauge railroad will begin operations in Austria’s western providence Tyrol starting in 2022.
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According to a 2018 survey by the VCÖ (a public-benefit organization specializing in mobility and transport), around 900,000 Austrian households were completely car-free, 1.2 million people rarely drove, and more than 100,000 used car-sharing services. The study projected that one shared car has the potential to replace between 4 and 16 private cars in the future.
Shared mobility is particularly popular in Austria`s capital Vienna where a growing number of young people in the city do not want to own a car due to high cost or lack of necessity, and instead prefer sharing concepts in combination with public transport. In 2019 the two leading providers in Vienna, Daimler`s car2go and BMW`s DriveNow; merged their services to form the new car-sharing company Share Now. Together they offer customers a pool of 1,500 BMW, Mercedes, MINI and Smart cars.