European progress on electric vehicles (EV) could save 190 million barrels of oil imports and generate €12bn (£10.2m) in savings, according to analysis by E-Mobility Europe and Ember.
In order to make the savings, the EU has to meet its targeted deployment rates of electric cars, vans and trucks for 2030: 35 million battery electric vehicles (BEV), 3 million commercial vehicles and 200 thousand electric trucks.
Road transport represents two-thirds of overall EU demand for oil products, with the switch to EVs being “the fastest, most efficient and most scalable route to cut this consumption”, it found.
In 2025, the battery electric vehicles registered in the EU displaced 57 million barrels of oil, avoiding approximately € 4 billion of European wealth to be transferred outside the bloc’s borders. This year, the 1 million newly registered vehicles cut consumption by 4 million barrels of oil.
The report states Europe “must deliver deeper resilience to fully establish EV energy security”, and not create “new dependencies”.
It introduced five priorities for electric security:
- Deploy – put more electric cars, vans and trucks on Europe’s roads
- Build – strengthen Europe’s EV industrial base
- Power – make electricity the affordable fuel of transport
- Flex – turn EVs into energy assets
- Protect – secure the digital backbone of mobility
The European Commission’s upcoming Electrification important Action Plan “should be a milestone for delivering a more focussed EV resilience strategy”, it said, which would put “Europe back on an irreversible electrification path”.
Chris Heron, Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe, said:
“Europe must decide: do we continue to relinquish our strategic autonomy to other regions, or will we act with laser focus to capture the full benefits of electric security? As a continent, we need to decide who we want to be, get back in the EV driving seat, and deliver long-term resilience”.
Chris Heron will be the keynote speaker at Transport + Energy‘s Fleet Electrification Forum next week on 8 July. Find out more about the event and register here.
Image courtesy of Green Car Guide
