Less Than 1%: Electric Vehicle Drivers in Sofia Reject Claims They Burden Parking

The Sofia Municipality is preparing amendments to the city’s parking ordinance that will increase parking fees and alter the existing regulations for various driver categories. Among those likely to be affected are electric vehicle (EV) owners, who currently enjoy free parking in all zones across the capital. The proposed changes have drawn criticism from members of the Association of Electric Vehicle Owners in Bulgaria, including actor Alexander Sano and entrepreneur Boris Kolev, who voiced their concerns during an interview on Nova TV.

Sano argued that misinformation is being spread regarding the impact of electric vehicles on the city’s parking system. He said that shifting responsibility to EV owners is unfair, given their minimal share of the total number of cars in Sofia. “In the city center, out of 100 cars, you’ll barely find two or three that are electric,” he said, adding that some municipal councilors make “outrageous claims” unsupported by real data.

The actor also emphasized that Sofia remains one of Europe’s most polluted capitals, regularly ranking among the top five or six cities with the dirtiest air. He questioned the logic of targeting electric car owners, noting that such vehicles account for just 0.6 percent of the total car fleet in Bulgaria. “Let the municipality explain how this 0.6 percent contributes to pollution or obstructs traffic,” he added.

Boris Kolev backed Sano’s statements with detailed figures, pointing out that there are fewer than 12,000 electric cars in Sofia out of approximately 850,000 registered vehicles - well under one percent. He said that even if every electric car were to park simultaneously in the city center, it would still have no significant impact on the availability of paid parking spaces.

Kolev referred to data from the Center for Urban Mobility (CGM), which indicate that paid parking areas are not as heavily used as often claimed. “We reviewed the CGM’s financial reports for last year. By dividing the total revenue from the blue and green zones by the number of operational days and hours, it turns out that only about 11 to 12 percent of the spaces are actually occupied by paying drivers,” he explained.

According to Kolev, most parking spaces are not taken by regular motorists but by other categories of vehicles, including those with official subscriptions, diplomatic registrations, and residential permits. He concluded that blaming electric car owners for parking congestion is misleading, as the data show that they represent an insignificant portion of Sofia’s overall traffic and parking problem.