Manufacturers demand incentives and more charging points in order to speed up the development of electric vehicles.

It is a necessary commitment. It is a mandatory commitment. The European Commission's plan for 2035 to end the sale of combustion engines requires that we accelerate the transformation of a sector in Spain that generates 2 million jobs and 11% of the GDP. Experts and managers from the sector discussed how the electric vehicle could be a strategic pillar of economic recovery during the first '2035 Time to Move' forum, organized by XL Semanal.

Jesus Alonso was the president and CEO at Ford Spain. This meeting was sponsored by Bridgestone Ford and Iberdrola. It came at a time when Ford Spain has made Spain the European epicenter for sustainable mobility. All the investment will be a boost to the Valencian economy as well as for Spain. He stated that the automotive industry is a source of long-term, indefinite employment and was committed to integrating digital components into new jobs.

Ford's support for Valencia was a positive sign, the manager said. He said, "It's difficult to compete against a country such as Germany, but it has worked out well in this case."

Maria Jose Rallo (General Secretary for Transport and Mobility), opened the event. She reminded that 130 million electric cars will be on the roads by 2035 as part of the European Commission's plan. "We are currently in uncertain times when it comes to energy, but decarbonization remains a necessary goal. She assured that the electric vehicle is the key to decarbonization in light transportation mobility. She did however mention that there are three things that could stop this goal: the price, autonomy, and charging points.

This vision was shared by the experts at the forum, who also reminded that only one out of ten Spanish vehicles is electric. It is nine of ten in Norway. Jose Lopez-Tafall is the general director of ANFAC. He says that electric vehicles are still more costly than traditional combustion vehicles.

He believes that both the tax incentives and aid for purchasing vehicles are still limited. Lopez-Tafalla also stressed the need to retire the nation's automobile fleet. He stated that the emissions are not falling as they should due to the lack of renovations to the park. We must take steps to eliminate people's fear about buying an electrified car.

Jesus Alonso also spoke in the same vein as Ford, which, he said, has three models of electrified cars with 68 km of real autonomy. He stated that the administration should be the first one to adopt the electric car. Ford has committed that electric cars and combustion vehicles will soon have equal prices.

Maria Jose Rallo recalled at this point that 12,000 million euro will be allocated in 13 tractor projects related to the PERTE electric vehicle. There are also 2,000 million Euros in incentives to purchase electric vehicles and recharging stations. She stated that "we cannot miss the chance, we must invest quickly, well all working together in public-private partnership."

Ford is making great strides in this area. Alonso said that Ford has reached 2030 the goals Europe set for 2035. He stated that "We must move quickly, not just from the standpoint of the automobile industry but also to preserve the environment." According to the manager, all passenger cars sold by the company will be electric by the target date. All commercials will be electric by 2035.

For his part, Rafael del Rio. AEDIVE's technical director, Rafael del Rio, expressed more optimism when he said that the difference between electric and combustion is shrinking "because the manufacturers are making a lot of effort in research and compressing the margins".

Jesus Alonso, Ford's CEO, acknowledged that the "move to electric and connected vehicles will cause changes in manufacturing" so he didn't rule out the possibility of "undertaking restructuring processes as a response to these challenges."

Experts at the meeting agreed that the transition will lead to "job losses" in this sector. This will increase the pressure on this point due to the automation of an industry that already requires less labor. Experts recommended that money be invested in training in order to facilitate the transfer and creation of jobs in electromobility, recharging infrastructure, battery manufacturing, or digitization in mobility.

A large portion of the event was devoted to the deployment of the charging infrastructure. Del Rio reminded us that before the year ended, there was an obligation that every 40 spaces in any parking lot that isn't residential be electrified, and every 20 in the case where it is public administration.

According to the expert, the current electric car's autonomy is 377 km. This means that the electric car is ideal for short trips, but it must be faster to deploy recharging points for longer journeys.

The second table was where the future urban challenges were discussed by Carlos Rico, Policy Officer at Transport.

Currently, the EC's objective is to establish a minimum recharging station of 1,400 kilowatts in rail (each 60 km) by 2025 and 3,500 kW in trans-European transport network by 2030. For example, in the Spanish case, the Mediterranean corridor would also be included. This should be considered a priority for infrastructure development.

Rico stated, "We see electric cars as the clear choice for decarbonization." Nacho Rabadan (general director of CEEES), disagreed. He said, "No one has ever been able to explain why the ideal and perfect solution to my problem is the electric car." He said that electric mobility relies on the perfect functioning of all gear parts. We don't consider the possibility of failures. We should not forget that the most popular car last year was a diesel engine from over ten years ago.

Although the representative from the gas stations admitted that the electric car was the best solution for service stations, he warned that it is important to analyze our country's situation and determine if the families can afford an electric vehicle in a crisis such as the current. He said that people drive coffee machines and that a third the top-selling vehicles in last year's sales were older than 15 years. He also warned that "recharging point deployments don't work" and criticized the difficulty for partners to set up their recharging stations. "It isn't mature, I have to be honest." "Each link of the chain must be profitable, including top-up services."

Future cities will be transformed by more than just the electric vehicle. Many companies are working on projects that will transform mobility. Miriam Gil, Iberdrola's Smart Cities Business, is one of them. She ensures that the "city of the future" will be digitally connected and digital, with the citizen at the center of it all.

Luis Vidal is the founder of Luis Vidal Architects Studio. This vision is also shared by Luis Vidal. However, this time it's for airspace. Airspace is another challenge for sustainable mobility. This expert is currently working on a project that will develop airports for spacecraft. The goal is to link two locations in the hemisphere within two and a quarter hours.

The company Zeleros Hyperloop is behind a project as ambitious and ambitious as the Hyperloop. Ingrid de Keijser is the company's director for press and public relations. She explained that the model aims to build a train that travels through the tube. The goal is to transport citizens from Barcelona to Paris in 90 minutes. Keijser stated that Europe already has a Hyperloop regulation panel so that it will be able to focus on cargo transport in 2030 and later on passengers. "The ideal distance per journey is between 400- 1,500 km, which is why it is very likely we will leave Spain.

The idea behind the Hyperloop is to be a complement to other modes of transport like the AVE. He stated that the Hyperloop would be affordable and have similar prices to high-speed trains.

Florent Bannwarh (director of operations at BlaBlaCar) discussed the future trend of shared mobility during the event. He stated that 76% of European trips are made by car. This will remain a key player in long-distance mobility. Manager argues that "what doesn't make sense now won't make sense in future", with an average of 1.7 people per long distance vehicle. He assured that optimizing our mobility resources was key, pointing out that the company has already tested shared car models for shorter distances.

Iberdrola mentioned that 150 million euros has been invested in the company to install 150,000 charging stations in homes and businesses over the next few year. Miriam Gil explained to me that there are two electrification projects within the Mediterranean corridor. These include the construction of more powerful recharging stations for trucks.

It has created one of the best top-up rates available on the market to its customers as part of its strategy. They can recharge at night for only 3 cents per Kilowatt (electronic vehicle plan). The directive states that they would need to travel 100km for 48 cents.

Gil shared the view of other speakers on this topic that the main obstacles to electric vehicle penetration are the high prices and lack of support at the point of purchase. He said that only 30% of the population can have a home recharging station and that the deadlines for permits can be as long as 20 months.

Carlo Ratti Associati's architect and promoter of MIT Senseable City Lab was responsible for putting the final touches on the meeting that brought together the directors and top managers of the sector at Vocento headquarters, Madrid.

He advocated using roads to 'collect energy' through the use solar panels in his vision for the future mobility. He also called for sustainable mobility to be encouraged by thinking beyond cars. He explains that bicycles are another option. "We should also consider other projects, such as the one we've been working on for the past four years in the Netherlands. These autonomous zero-emission robots can transport passengers through the canals, just like a taxi. It also makes use of its prototypes for other purposes, such as garbage collection.