ROME – The European decarbonisation objectives for the automotive sector that are too little ambitious risk sending the European electric car market into crisis. The alarm was raised by Transport & Environment (T&E), the non-profit and politically independent organization which in its latest report notes that between 2022 and 2030 EU citizens could buy 18 million less electric cars than in the provisions of the producers’ plans, generating extra emissions of 55 million tons of CO2.
One in five Italians would buy an electric car. The hybrid convinces one in 2. The diesel surprise
by Valerio Berruti
And just to give a practical example, it would be a quantity higher than the annual quota of greenhouse gases released by all the cars circulating in Spain. “If the legislators do not intervene, the strong expansion of electric vehicles, fueled in the past by the regulations on cutting emissions, is destined to falter – underlined Carlo Tritto, policy officer of T&E Italia – The time has come to set adequately ambitious targets if we want to avoid the specter of a lost decade in the race to decarbonise the sector. This is even more important for Italy, which has one of the highest motorization rates in Europe (655 cars per 1,000 inhabitants) and cars alone account for 16% of the economy’s aggregate emissions. It is no longer the time for bla bla bla, it is time to act ”. The rules currently in force provide for manufacturers to cut CO2 emissions from new vehicles equal to 15% in 2025 and 37.5% by 2030, but with the “Fit for 55” proposal the European Commission has raised the target at the end of the decade at -55% assuming the phase-out (-100%) in 2035.
Stellantis focuses on electrification. Ficili: “A central role for Italy and Turin”
at Diego Longhin
It should be noted that according to T&E estimates, the 2025 target could even be reached two years in advance, which highlights the weakness of the set objective. It is precisely the smallness of the effort required of the transport sector that undermines the national climate mitigation plans which, for Italy, require a reduction in total emissions of 43.7% between now and 2030. The analysis of T&E argues that in order to reach their respective targets, member countries should cut automotive emissions by 80% by the end of the decade, setting an intermediate threshold to be crossed in 2027.
The T&E study also highlights how the rules currently in force allow car manufacturers to exploit some legislative gaps. Manufacturers can take advantage of flexibility to more easily achieve their goals, which however facilitate the sale of heavier vehicles, such as highly polluting SUVs and plug-in hybrids which, when not used with hybrid technology, pollute even more. of vehicles powered only by fossil fuels. Adopting these flawed regulations this year alone resulted in lower sales of 100% electric cars of 840,000 units and enabled all manufacturers to meet their 2021 CO2 targets. (Mr)
.