Heavy car manufacturers will have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from their cars by almost a third by 2030. On 19 February, the EU Board of Governors came to an agreement on this issue.
Newly manufactured cars sold in 2025 will have to reduce the production of exhaust gases by 15% compared to 2019. This means fuel savings for vehicle operators, which translates into €20,000 per car in the first five years. The verification of savings will be estimated in 2022.
Transport & Environment (T&E) concludes that this is the first such action in history, initiating climate protection measures and creating fuel savings. The rules will be strengthened during the 2022 review if they are to be in line with the Paris-based kilmatics targets.
HGV manufacturers will be able to use so-called ‘’super-credits’’ in which the sale of zero-emission lorries will be repeatedly counted towards the carbon dioxide reduction target. The possibility of taking out such a loan should be allowed until 2025.
Entrepreneurs who break with the sale of new electric and hydrogen vehicles, and exceed 2% of the cars sold, will be rewarded with a less stringent carbon dioxide emissions target. Thanks to the new agreement, it is possible to increase the weight of the load by two tonnes for zero-emission vehicles.
Statistics say that currently the most air pollutants (20%!) are produced by lorries with diesel engines. Experts show that the new targets will help to initiate the move away from such engines in freight transport.
The Climate Coalition stresses that heavy goods vehicles used in Europe are responsible for 22% of pollutant emissions and account for less than 5% of vehicles used on the roads.
