Europe EV plans “far removed from reality”

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has rebuffed the EU’s sustainable transport plans.

The manufacturers’ body said the objective – outlined in the new plans – to meet 30 million zero emission cars on EU roads by 2030 wasn’t realistic, according to the director general of the association, Eric-Mark Huitema.

The AECA said only 615,000 zero emission cars out of 243 overall passenger vehicles were on EU roads last year – 0.25% of the whole car fleet. But to meet the EU objectives, this would need to increase 50-fold in just 10 years. Additionally, the call for three million public charging units would require deployment levels to be increased 15-fold to meet this target.

As a result, the manufacturers, who stressed they are committed to the electric vehicle and decarbonisation agenda, called on the EU to push national governments into charging investment.

It also called for “more aggressive” carbon pricing, fleet renewal schemes, and upskilling workers for transformation of the automotive sector. Also, it called for affordability to be addressed with the average European car being 11 years old.

Speaking about the policy, Huitema said: “The European Commission should match its level of ambition for rolling out infrastructure across the EU with its ambition for reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles.

“It is quite simple: the higher the climate targets become, the higher targets for charging points and refuelling stations should be. Unfortunately, we still see a mismatch between these two elements at EU level.”