Electric trucks are urgently needed for Europe to achieve its climate goals, according to a new study commissioned by the Dutch Environment Ministry. It shows that one out of three new trucks will need to be electric or zero-emission by 2030 if the EU is to meet its Paris commitments.
Last spring Daimler/Mercedes, the world’s number one truckmaker, was caught with its pants down by the Deutsche Post DHL Group. During a testing day organised by DP-DHL, which was presenting its self-developed electric van, the StreetScooter, one of its vehicles being trialled by potential customers went way outside the test drive area, with its GPS showing it was en route to Stuttgart.
The EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete has contradicted his own Directorate’s assessment of the impact of reducing CO2 from new cars, by warning that an ambitious emissions target would lead to ‘job losses’ and ‘factory closures’. T&E says the commissioner’s comments are remarkable for being wrong, and based on unpublished studies by autoworker unions rather than the Commission’s own impact assessment. The Climate Commissioner’s proposal is also much less ambitious than many government ministers and MEPs are calling for.
This paper investigates the role that long-haul battery electric trucks may play in Europe to help achieve the Paris Agreement goal, to decarbonise road transport in the EU by 2050. The paper looks at the latest in market developments from EU and international truck makers.
Coal or oil. That was the question facing ‘a young man in a hurry’ who had just been put in charge of the British navy. A century ago coal-powered steamships were the proven technology. On the other hand, there was a new technology: the internal combustion engine (ICE). Proponents of the ICE said it would be faster, healthier for the crew and operated by far fewer people which made it a lot cheaper to run. Of course it wasn’t a 100% proven technology. It was new. Would it always work? And would there be enough oil?
Europe is falling behind in the race to make the most of the electromobility revolution. That is the conclusion from news that the EU is trailing China in investment in e-vehicles, coupled with a T&E report that shows European carmakers are failing to meet their own EV sales targets because of poor marketing and availability of cars for consumers.
The supply of electric vehicles to the British market could dry up when the UK leaves the EU, according to a new study by T&E. This is because sales of electric cars in a post-Brexit British market will not count towards a carmaker’s EU CO2 targets. The study also suggests up to 6,700 British automotive workers could lose their jobs in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’.
An action plan to drive the production, reuse and recycling of lithium-ion batteries in the EU has been published by the European Commission. T&E has welcomed the strategy, but says parallel measures to ensure carmakers sell a minimum number of electric vehicles are needed if Europe is to make the most out of the economic potential of electric cars.
Carmakers are still failing to achieve their own sales targets for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe because they have barely improved the marketing, choice and availability of zero emissions vehicles, a new report shows.
Carmakers are failing to achieve their own targets for sales of battery electric and plug-in hybrid models as they do not increase the offer of these vehicles fast enough. While manufacturers complain about a lack of recharging infrastructure and incentives, this report by T&E makes it clear that they could have done significantly more to meet their own goals.
