At the event, EU ministers exchanged views with leaders and experts from across society, including the automobile industry.

According to the ACEA, e-mobility will clearly play an important role in the future and a coordinated policy support is needed.

'The ecological benefits of emission-free mobility are obvious. And we are now at a point where, contrary to past experience, electric propulsion is finally becoming a viable alternative,' said ACEA president Dieter Zetsche (chairman of Daimler AG), addressing EU ministers.

The ACEA says that the successful approach to e-mobility at a commercial and environmental level should be built on five main pillars:

• A sound, long-term and coordinated policy towards sustainable mobility

• Boosting customer acceptance and demand through market incentives as well as a widely available recharging infrastructure

• Global standards to recharge vehicles

• Support for further R&D

• Low-carbon energy production.

In a statement, the organisation added: 'Such a strategy will help secure EU-leadership in engineering and competence, with a potential positive impact on employment in the EU. Governments of USA, Japan and China already support new technologies intensively, and this poses a challenge to European vehicle makers in terms of their global competitiveness.

'For electric mobility to take off and fulfil its potential, further significant and simultaneous investment is needed by multiple players. These must also all work closely together, including the automotive industry, the energy producers and providers, the research and development community as well as governments on various levels – from EU institutions to towns and city councils.'