The first of a series of events stemming from last year’s Aspire Conference on a Sustainable Built Environment was held this morning, and was opened by Minister for Environment and Transport John Cortes. The event was organized in collaboration with the Gibraltar Sustainable Buildings Group and sponsored by Bassadone Motors. Each event in the Aspire series will focus on a different aspect of the built environment and today’s session looked at the challenges and opportunities offered by the transition to electric vehicles.

This remains one of the key policies in the Government’s net zero strategy and guest speaker, Philip Valarino, provided attendees with a balanced view of the industry. Philip has over 20 years of experience in the energy market and led the development of French energy giant EDF’s electric vehicle business in the UK. Through Campion Energy Ltd, Philip is now an independent consultant m providing expertise in the sustainability, electric vehicle and clean energy sectors.

The session was well attended with over 50 people from both industry and the public sector. Common questions were tackled such as the relative environmental benefit of an EV versus a traditional internal combustion engine, the lifetime cost of owning an EV and the environmental implications of battery production and recycling. Philip also talked through some example journeys, touching on the issues of range and charging anxiety, highlighting that the shift to EV requires a change in mindset as well as a change in vehicle.

The event was opened by Minister for the Environment and Transport, Dr John Cortes, who recognized that providing charging infrastructure was the key challenge for Government and re-iterated the Government’s commitment to working with Industry ton deliver on this as it supports the transition to electrification, as stated in the recently published EV Policy.

ENDS