Briefing

Council amendments on counting electric cars: backdoor weakening of Cars CO2 limits

November 5, 2018

The European Parliament, Council and the Commission are in the final stage of negotiations on the 2025/2030 CO2 standards for new cars and vans. This briefing analyses the impact of the two Council amendments to change the counting of zero and low emission vehicles (ZLEVs).

PHEVs are cars with an engine and a small battery and have a limited electric range, typically around 40km. Today most models comply with the 50g/km CO2 threshold to earn super credits for easier compliance with 2021 95g/km CO2 targets. On the road most PHEVs have relatively high average emissions of around 120g/km because they are largely driven using their engine. As the electric range of a PHEV increases, it can be driven much more using the battery and the real world emissions can improve considerably.

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