Firms call on EU for zero-emission corporate fleets by 2030
Uber, Ikea, Coca Cola, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Tesco and LeasePlan and other firms have made a public call to EU leaders to ensure all company cars are electric and zero-emission by 2030.
The firms, which have ambitious net-zero strategies of their own, are now calling on the EU to accelerate public policy targets and call on the European Commission to consider electrification targets for corporate cars as part of the Greening Corporate Fleets initiative – a coalition of 30 global businesses and organisations.
The open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal and Adina Valean, Commissioner for Transport said this move alone would ensure the majority of cars sold in the EU were electric by 2030 as six out of 10 cars are corporate vehicles – and these are driven twice as much as private vehicles.
Knock-on effect
It said: “The purchasing decisions of fleets have a significant knock on effect for the rest of the market, with vehicles generally going into the second-hand market after just 3-5 years.
“Accelerating the electrification of fleets can provide the European Union a vital triple win: slashing emissions from road transport rapidly; weaning the EU off Russian oil imports; and last but not least creating a thriving second-hand market for affordable EVs.”
The letter also explained how the EC should alongside zero-emission corporate fleets “widen the scope to heavy commercial vehicles and set binding purchase targets for fleets of a certain size. These targets should be in line with all new heavy commercial vehicles being zero emission by 2035.”
Infrastructure
Co-legislators should “swiftly agree on ambitious targets for public and private charging infrastructure” too – in the contexts of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. In addition, member states “need to speed up their own charging infrastructure plans and design dedicated incentive schemes for workplace and
depot charging”, it said.
Speaking about the open letter, director of electric fleets at T&E, Stef Cornelis, said: “Leading companies with large car fleets are committed to become leaders on electrification and the climate. They are now asking President Von der Leyen to ensure all new corporate cars are electric by 2030.
“For too long, corporate cars have not been on Europe’s agenda. This has to change. The European Commission should acknowledge the big potential of electrifying fleets not only for the climate but also for its citizens as it will bring affordable second-hand EVs to the market”.
