L 234/12
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
22.9.2023
(62)
The development of alternative fuel technologies is also important for railways, where direct electrification of a rail section might not be possible for reasons such as the cost-efficiency of the service.
Different technologies are available to which the rail sector can switch from diesel trains, including direct electrification, battery-powered trains and hydrogen applications.
The development of those technologies requires the deployment of suitable recharging and refuelling infrastructure in Member States.
(63)
Member States should make use of a wide range of regulatory and non-regulatory incentives and measures to reach the mandatory targets and implement their national policy frameworks, in close cooperation with private sector actors, who should play a key role in supporting the development of alternative fuels infrastructure.
(64)
Pursuant to Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (18), minimum national shares of public procurement are reserved for clean buses and zero-emission buses, where a clean bus uses alternative fuels as defined in this Regulation.
With ever more public transport authorities and operators switching to clean buses and zero-emission buses in order to reach those mandatory targets, it is important that Member States include the targeted promotion and development of the necessary recharging and refuelling infrastructure for buses as a key element in their national policy frameworks.
It is also important that Member States establish and maintain appropriate instruments to promote the deployment of recharging and refuelling infrastructure for buses also for captive fleets, in particular for clean buses and zero-emission buses at local level.
(65)
In light of the increasing diversity in the type of fuels for motorised vehicles coupled with on-going growth in the road mobility of citizens across the Union, it is necessary to provide consumers with clear and easy-to-understand information on the fuels available at refuelling stations and on the compatibility of their vehicles with different fuels or recharging points on the Union market.
(66)
Simple and easy-to-compare information on price of different fuels could play an important role in enabling consumers to better evaluate the relative cost of individual fuels available on the market.
Therefore, a unit price comparison of certain alternative fuels and conventional fuels, expressed as ‘fuel price per 100 km’, should be shown for information purposes at all relevant refuelling stations.
It should be made clear to consumers that such comparisons concern the average fuel prices in the Member State, which might differ from the actual prices charged at the refuelling station concerned.
Moreover, the Commission should, if appropriate, review Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (19) in order to ensure that consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars, as provided for by that Directive, takes into account and reflects the developments related to the transition to alternative fuels.
(67)
It is necessary to provide consumers with sufficient information regarding the geographic location, characteristics and services offered at the publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points of alternative fuels covered by this Regulation.
Therefore, Member States should ensure that operators or owners of publicly accessible recharging and refuelling points make relevant static data and dynamic data available.
Requirements on data types regarding the availability of and accessibility to relevant data related to recharging and refuelling should be laid down, building on the outcomes of the Programme Support Action on ‘Data collection related to recharging/refuelling points for alternative fuels and the unique identification codes related to e-mobility actors’ (‘IDACS’), that was concluded in 2022.
(68)
This Regulation addresses data types that are necessary for the functioning of a competitive and open market, and essential for end users to make informed decisions on their recharging and refuelling sessions including through high-quality information services developed by relevant market actors.
The data types requirements laid down in this Regulation should apply only to the data that are available in a digital machine-readable format.
(18) Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of clean road transport vehicles in support of low-emission mobility (OJ L 120, 15.5.2009, p. 5).
(19) Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 relating to the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars (OJ L 12, 18.1.2000, p. 16).