ACEA, the association that encompasses the 16 main automotive manufacturers operating in Europe, celebrates that the car decarbonization measures have not been tightened, although it remains concerned about the process approved in the European Parliament.
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has reacted to the vote that was held in the European Parliament on Wednesday afternoon and confirmed that plans to ban new cars with any type of combustion engine in 2035 continue.
This body represents the BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Stellantis, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Cars and Volvo Group.
“Given the volatility and uncertainty we experience globally, any long-term regulation beyond this decade is premature”
Y, in an official statementACEA welcomes that Parliament has upheld the European Commission’s proposal for targets for 2025 and 2030. “These goals are already extremely challenging and can only be achieved with a massive increase in charging and refueling infrastructure.”warns the association.
However, as the transformation of the sector depends on many external factors that are not entirely in its hands, ACEA is concerned that MEPs have voted to set a 100% carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction target by 2035 .
«The automobile industry will fully contribute to the goal of a carbon neutral Europe in 2050», says Oliver Zipse, Chairman of ACEA and CEO of BMW. “Our industry is in the midst of a huge push towards electric vehicles, with new models arriving all the time. These meet customer demands and are driving the transition to sustainable mobility.”
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“But given the volatility and uncertainty we experience globally on a day-to-day basis, any long-term regulation beyond this decade is premature at this early stage. Instead, a transparent mid-way review is needed to define the post-2030 goals.”
“Such a review will have to assess, firstly, whether the deployment of charging infrastructure and the availability of raw materials for battery production will be able to match the continued and steep rise of battery electric vehicles at that time.”ACEA warns in the mouth of Zipse.
The ACEA statement emphasizes that at this time it is also essential to comply with the rest of the necessary conditions to make zero emissions possible. Therefore, «ACEA calls on decision makers to adopt the different elements of ‘Fit for 55’in particular the CO₂ targets and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), as a coherent package.”
ACEA evaluates the decarbonization plan for the automotive industry
Already last January, the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers issued its conclusions in relation to the action plan associated with the ‘Fit for 55’ program, which includes the measures related to the automotive industry. They were the following ones:
2025: ACEA welcomes the proposal to leave the 2025 targets unchanged. Any change would not leave enough time to adapt due to the development and production cycles of a vehicle.
2028: ACEA requests a much stronger mid-term review, with a clear guarantee that there will be sufficient infrastructure (linked to AFIR and EPBD). 2028 would be the best time to set a long-term goal.
2030: A -55% CO₂ target for cars (compared to the 2021 baseline) is very challenging. It would only be possible with a massive increase in infrastructure to reach a total of about 7 million chargers.
With the goal of just 3.9 million chargers, the current AFIR proposal falls far short of this level of ambition. Its rigor must be increased!
The -50% target for vans is also extremely demandinge, bordering on unrealityespecially in combination with other measures such as the change in slope of the limit curve.
An ambitious target for 2030 will accelerate the structural transformation of the automotive value chain. It will require careful management of the workforce and a “Just Transition” plan for retraining.
The existing exception for small manufacturers in Regulation 2019/631 should be maintained, since these vehicles only represent 0.2% of the total fleet.
2035: A target for 2035 should be set as part of the 2028 review. Now it’s too early to set a 100% CO₂ reduction targetwhich is essentially a ban on the internal combustion engine, at a time when there are still too many open questions:
How will infrastructure deployment and consumer acceptance play out in the coming years? What kind of revolutionary technologies will reach the market between now and 2035?
2050: motor vehicle manufacturers are fully committed to reducing CO₂ emissions to zerosupporting Europe’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
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