Europe’s CO₂ emission performance standards for new passenger cars: Lessons from 2020 and future prospects

The authors review developments in the passenger automobile market in the European Union (EU) and assess the proposed post-2021 goals for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. The proposed regulation retains the reduction target of 15% by 2025, and a 55% reduction by 2030 of CO₂ from automobiles. Also, by suggesting that by 2035,new automobiles have zero emissions, the regulation proposes that internal combustion (IC) vehicles be phased out. The authors’ analysis of market developments in 2020 found that CO₂ emission levels from new vehicles can greatly decrease if appropriate regulations, with high penalties for non-compliance, are implemented. CO₂ emission levels in the EU, in response to current policies, dropped by 21% in 2019-2020, showing that manufacturers can quickly adapt their products to comply with regulatory targets. The decrease in new automobile CO₂ levels in 2020 is due to the increased adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), and credits for regulatory compliance. The CO₂ emissions of non-EVs did not change. The authors offer several recommendations for CO₂ emissions targets after 2021: 1) To comply with the European Green Deal (EGD)’s targets for climate protection, CO₂ emission levels must decrease much faster. The vehicle CO₂ regulation can ensure that the reductions are achieved, but it must be strengthened and adapted to the EGD’s goals; 2) Introducing annual interim targets for new vehicle CO₂ emission levels, rather than relying on 5-year targets, would help to ensure a continuous decline in CO₂ emissions and avoid market interruptions, such as the uptake of EVs in 2020; 3) Introducing minimum requirements for IC vehicles, along with monitoring and enforcement for vehicle emissions, would impel manufacturers to focus on reducing CO₂ levels by relying on EVs and regulatory credits for compliance; 4) At national level, fiscal policies to encourage adoption of vehicles with zero or low emissions, with high taxation for high-emission vehicles, would enable a continuous and affordable trend towards zero- and low-emission vehicles.

• Record URL:
  https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/eu-ev-pv-co2-emission-performance-sept21.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  https://theicct.org/publications/eu-ev-pv-co2-emission-performance-sept21
• Corporate Authors:

  International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

  1500 K Street NW, Suite 650
  Washington, DC  United States  20005
• Authors:
  • Wappelhorst, Sandra
  • Tietge, Uwe
  • Bieker, Georg
  • Mock, Peter
• Publication Date: 2021-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Working Paper
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 25p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobiles; Carbon dioxide; Exhaust gases; Forecasting; Lessons learned; Standards
• Geographic Terms: European Union
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01786929
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 2021-32
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 29 2021 3:40PM