Reforming taxes, adapting supply chains, developing seamless charging and ensuring batteries are produced sustainably, are all crucial pillars of sustainable e-mobility.
Thanks to the EU 2020/21 CO2 standard for cars of 95 gCO2/km, carmakers are finally getting serious about selling electric cars – sales more than trebled in 2020 to reach 10.5% across Europe. The next step is to increase the ambition of the 2025/2030 car CO2 rules and ensure that all new vehicles are zero-emission no later than 2035.
Cost of electric cars
While purchase prices for most EV models are currently still higher than comparable diesel and petrol cars, electric cars are expected to reach parity with conventional models in the mid-2020s. However, the total costs of ownership (TCO) is more important to consumers and is already lower for some EVs when taking into account how much it costs to fuel, maintain and insure the car. Smartly designed taxation is key to make electric cars more affordable, notably bonus-malus tax systems in countries such as France, Italy and Sweden that compensate financial support for zero emission cars with higher taxes on polluting vehicles.
Electric cars and jobs
The car industry is expected to change more in the next five years than it has in the past century. It is a moment at which it must adapt and change to survive. Famously, other great European companies, like Nokia, failed because they were too slow to change. Europe needs to help its leading carmakers in the global race to electrify mobility and avoid being overtaken by US, Korean and Chinese competitors.
The shift to electric vehicles will help European carmakers remain competitive and contribute to job creation across the continent. An economic analysis, which gathered input from carmakers, auto suppliers, energy companies, NGOs and consumer groups, shows that more than 200,000 jobs can be created with a shift from fossil fuel-powered cars to electric. By 2030 the shift in spending away from diesel and gasoline use in road transport would reduce Europeans’ spending on imported oil by €49 billion.
With Europe (and increasing numbers of other countries and regions) committed to climate neutrality, the transition to a zero-emission road transport sector is inevitable. Europe must therefore own it. The best way to secure future prosperity, jobs and strategic autonomy is to have supply chains centred in Europe with EU car plants exporting to the rest of the world.
