ChargeUp Europe Appoints its First Secretary General

ChargeUp Europe has appointed Lucie Mattera as its first Secretary General to meet the needs of its expanding membership and the growing sector. Lucie Mattera will help steer ChargeUp Europe to the next phase of its development. She has direct work experience with three EU institutions, as well as leadership experience in trade and green associations.

Don't miss the short interview with Lucie to mark her appointment below!

You can read the full press release here.

Would you say that you know Brussels quite well?

After fifteen years in Brussels, I feel I am finally getting the hang of it. I have good awareness of the EU Brussels Bubble, I know the institutions and whole machinery and how it works here. Having worked most of the main institutions myself, I am very familiar with the political institutional systems in Brussels. But it goes beyond that, I really feel very comfortable in the country that I consider my home.

What did you do before you joined ChargeUp Europe?

I have a mixed background mostly in government and advocacy. For the government side, I worked for EU institutions, that is, the European Parliament, the Commission, and the Council. It is good to have seen these three institutions, so you know where the actual power is and to understand the machinery.

I have also worked in national governments in France. It was very important to work at cabinet level with decision makers - the top guys whose decisions are not based on pure science or data. That was a valuable experience to get a sense of how decision-making at high political level works.

I have also led a Brussels-based trade association and the Brussels office of a think tank that promotes climate safety. So, in a nutshell, I have some background in business, from government, and some experience in the green sector.

You are basically everything combined. So, it makes perfect sense to now move to e-mobility. But first, my question: do you have an EV?

Unfortunately, I do not have an EV. I am looking forward to the moment where EVs will be more affordable. The second-hand market is going to develop at some point, so that is one way to jump on it. I am very curious to see how in my neighbourhood, the work around the building codes is going to play out to get the charging points up. But I do have a giant, cargo e-bike!

But that is maybe one motivation of yours to go into the sector of e-mobility. Tell us a little bit more what drove your decision to join the e-mobility sector?

First, I think it has a bright future, which is of essence. The direction of travel in Europe is set and that direction will open doors and horizons for the sector. Projects and the markets are evolving - a lot of it is going to continue to evolve in the coming years. So, this is an exciting moment to join this industry. It is young and innovative, and it is changing a lot. I am very happy to be part of the journey. And of course, as the market grows and matures, this sector will make positive contribution to health and to the economy in Europe, as well as to climate. All positive and that is what I want to be a part of.

In the context of mobility, EVs are in that sense still a niche but obviously on the rise, but the charging of it is then even more niche. So why exactly have you chosen the EV charging industry?

I take issue with that question. I object to this characterization. EVs can be a bit niche, but it is in this space where it is transitioning from a niche market to a mainstream market. We are going mainstream. Indeed, if you look at it today, EVs are still a small percentage, but this percentage is growing very, very rapidly. In fact, it is growing so fast and so spectacularly that we are precisely on the verge of no longer being niche.

And then the EV charging infrastructure is basically the foundation, the very backbone of this ecosystem.

What are some of the main challenges that you see for the EV charging industry that are coming in the next years?

The direction of the industry is only pointing in one direction. But that direction has yet to fully materialize. It is targets, numbers on a paper and that are good in the sense that we give a signal to investors. However, if you do not take a systemic change approach to these targets then you are not going to meet them. What is happening with the workforce? Whatever the fiscal incentives, are they also aligned with what we are trying to do here? What about the fragmentation of the market? What about building codes? Local authorities that don’t prioritize the industry?

You touched upon that already a little bit. Because politicians on the one hand set a very tight timeline to those challenges with the ban of the internal combustion engine by 2035. On the other hand, what do politicians have to provide for that to happen, and for that to be possible for the industry?

Number one would be a real policy consistency and policy alignment - just making sure what you are trying to do in one place is not undone by what you are doing in another place. I would say the signals to investors are critical. And for that you have to have perfectly clear policy direction. Staying on course is going to be important. Because net zero was the ambition of this commission, but we need to see consistency across time. Politicians can also help us by making the effort to try to educate themselves about our sector, trying to understand it a little bit. It is hard, yes, but it is not a sector that is very well understood, so far.