The European Commission is set to revise the car CO2 regulation in June. T&E sets out its position on how and why it needs to be strengthened so that Europe can take the lead on electric vehicles.
The growing EV market masks many regulatory flaws and failures to cut emissions, such as the growing CO2 emissions from new cars prior to 2020 and the push by some carmakers towards suboptimal plug-in hybrid technology. The biggest risk is that the EV momentum could stagnate between 2022-2029 unless the current post-2020 standards are strengthened.
The 2021 review is therefore necessary and timely.
Europe must stand firm over its future targets for carmakers as it cannot afford to fall further behind China.
The decision to create a Europe-wide carbon price was right but creates significant political risk. The good news is it can still be fixed.
It's about time the EU requires parts of key products to be made locally – and nowhere is this more urgent than in the battery sector.