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