The European Commission proposed on Wednesday 14 July that the fleet of new cars and vans registered in 2035 should have zero CO2 emissions. To achieve this, the emission reduction threshold is set at -55% in 2030 compared to 2021 for new cars (compared to a target of -37.5% currently set by Regulation 2019/31) and -50% for vans (-31%) (see EUROPE 12760/1). All EU car manufacturers would be affected, even those producing less than 10,000 new cars or 22,000 new vans per year.
This legislative initiative is part of the ‘Fit for 55’ legislative package aimed at enabling the European Union to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 while putting the EU on a climate neutral path by 2050 (see other news).
CO2 emissions from the transport sector now account for a quarter of total emissions in the EU. And, unlike other sectors, “they are still increasing”, noted the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President in charge of the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans.
The President of the European institution, Ursula von der Leyen, justified this initiative as a way of speeding up a process already underway to make European industry competitive in a low-carbon economy. She referred to the announcements of several car manufacturers to switch completely to electric vehicles “between 2028 and 2035”, the strong increase in demand for electric vehicles, and the massive, “particularly public” investments, notably through the European battery alliance.
In setting these targets, the European Commission does not intend to impose a ban on vehicles powered by combustion engines. In particular, it stresses that petrol vehicles put on the road before 2035 will be able to continue to drive where they are still allowed, depending on their emission level. But they are expected to be decommissioned around 2050.
“We are banning emissions”, said the European official, who believes the legislative proposal on the table is “technology neutral”. However, he acknowledged that, to date, combustion engine technology necessarily produces emissions. As for electricity production, it is not totally clean at this stage, but the EU is implementing a decarbonisation policy in this area “in parallel”, he argued.
The question arises as to whether new hybrid vehicles will be produced after 2035. “Hybrid cars, to the extent that they produce emissions, will not be allowed in manufacturers’ new fleets”, even though they will still play an important transitional role in 2030, the official said.
France is reluctant to see the end of the internal combustion engine in 2035, in particular because this approach would condemn hybrid vehicles.
Are consumers willing to pay more for electric vehicles? According to the European Commission, consumer awareness is real: purchases of new electric vehicles tripled in 2020 to reach 1 million units, despite a sluggish market due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And Timmermans also referred to a Bloomberg study which found that the cost of electric vehicles will become lower than that of conventional vehicles from “2027”.
On the other hand, the European Commission has not made a specific proposal for two-wheelers, preferring to tackle the most polluting vehicles first. “Their turn will come”, the source said. As for heavy vehicles, the legislation came into force too recently to allow us to have up-to-date data and will be revised “next year”, the source added (see EUROPE 12197/2).
See the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation: https://bit.ly/3z1WM45
Providing the EU with essential infrastructure
In order to meet the targets set, the necessary infrastructure for electric and hydrogen powered vehicles must be put in place.
The European Commission therefore proposes that more than one million charging points be deployed by 2025. By 2030, 3.5 million terminals are expected.
These terminals will have to ensure that at least 1 kW of energy is available per vehicle registered in a Member State.
Charging stations - taking borders into account - should not be more than 60 kilometres apart on the core trans-European transport network (TEN-T). For the overall TEN-T, these targets will have to be met in 2030 and 2035.
There are also plans for charging points 60 kilometres apart for electric trucks on the central TEN-T. Their power level should reach 1400 kW by 2025 and 3500 kW by 2030. For the overall TEN-T, these targets will have to be met every 100 kilometres in 2030 and 2035.
The scheme is the same for hydrogen-powered vehicles, for which the stations must not be more than 150 kilometres apart. Stations will also be installed in every urban node.
See the European Commission’s proposal: https://bit.ly/3xHhxBF (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Thomas Mangin)