The main results are:
- Across all cities, almost two in three city dwellers (63%) support the idea that after 2030 only emission-free cars should be allowed to be on sale in Europe. This shows that the public is broadly supportive of an EU-wide phase-out of combustion engine cars.
- In all of the 15 cities across 8 countries in Western, Southern and Eastern Europe, there is a consistent majority in support (51% to 77%) of emission-free cars sales after 2030.
- Respondents who got infected with Covid-19 or whose close ones suffered from the virus show significantly stronger support than those who don’t know people who got sick or don’t recall (66% vs. 56%).
- Price (55%), infrastructure (51%) and the range of electric vehicles (45%) are seen as the main factors that will drive the sales of electric cars above those of petrol and diesel cars.
- Only one in 10 (10%) of all respondents thinks that electric car sales will not overtake those of petrols and diesels in the future.
In T&E’s view this shows that Europeans are ready for the switch to zero-emission mobility. Politicians should listen, and the European Commission should, this summer, propose an EU-wide phase-out of cars with internal combustion by 2035 at the very latest.
