CO2 proposal for cars and vans offers relief, but more action needed to overcome poor demand

The proposal for a three-year averaging is a step in the right direction, aligning decarbonisation goals with real-world market and geopolitical challenges. It offers much-needed breathing room for car and van makers— but this must be complimented by meaningful demand incentives and widespread charging infrastructure deployment in order to address the fundamental hurdles to the transformation. As the latest market data shows, the demand for zero-emission vehicles is still far from where it needs to be with the market share of BEVs at just 15%. 

“We call on the European Parliament and Council to ensure the fast adoption of this amendment,” stated Sigrid de Vries, Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). “The next important step is then to thoroughly assess the transformation’s overall progress, with a focus on refining the approach – not the end goal – where necessary. This is no less important for the commercial vehicles sector: with zero-emission trucks accounting for only 2% of all new registrations, this vehicle segment urgently needs an acceleration of the review of its CO2 standards to 2025, too, based on an assessment of the sectors’ enabling conditions,” added de Vries.

With the publication of the amendment on CO2 compliance targets for cars/vans, we are seeing the first major result of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of the Automotive Industry.