BRUSSELS, 18 January 2024 – Lawmakers have reached an agreement setting the most ambitious CO2 reduction targets for trucks and buses in the world.
Truck and bus manufacturers fully support ambitious decarbonization plans. However, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said the agreed implementation schedule remained extremely difficult due to the lack of key enabling conditions.
Taking note of today’s tripartite agreement, European truck and bus manufacturers emphasize that the very ambitious CO2 reduction targets agreed today must be backed by credible conditions for realization.
“Charging and hydrogen filling infrastructure, a comprehensive carbon pricing system, and meaningful support measures that transport operators can quickly invest in. These, in addition to zero-emission vehicles, will help rapidly decarbonize the heavy transport sector. “This is an important element,” Sigrid emphasized. de Vries, ACEA Executive Director.
“We cannot continue to boldly set ambitious targets for automakers and then expect them to be implemented quickly and smoothly. Without a framework to drive demand for zero-emission models, It will be impossible to achieve the goal, especially in the envisaged timeline,” explained De Vries.
To meet the target by 2030, more than 400,000 battery electric and hydrogen energy vehicles will need to be on the road, and at least a third of newly registered vehicles will have to be zero-emission models. For this equation to work, Europe needs at least 50,000 suitable charging stations (mostly megawatt charging systems) and at least 700 hydrogen filling stations.
Decarbonizing heavy transport requires the collective efforts of diverse stakeholders across the transport ecosystem. “While we are playing our part by investing in and ramping up mass production of zero-emission trucks and buses, we are doing our part by investing in and operating new vehicles to replace the old ones currently on European roads. It depends on the capabilities of the customer,” De Vries added.
Europe’s automotive industry will see zero and low emission vehicle (ZLEV) incentives continue until 2029, with an earlier agreement than the European Commission’s originally proposed comprehensive review date of 2027. are encouraged.
Going forward, the European automotive industry will continue to closely monitor the introduction of key enabling conditions to ensure that targets are achieved. The European Commission and Member States should be equally committed to monitoring progress so that potential shortcomings can be addressed early on in order to jointly achieve common decarbonization goals.
Notes for editors
- Trucks and buses are essential for transporting goods and people to the most important places. Trucks alone transport 77% of all goods transported by land within the EU, and more than half of public transport journeys are made by buses.
Taking note of today’s tripartite agreement, European truck and bus manufacturers emphasize that the very ambitious CO2 reduction targets agreed today must be backed by credible conditions for realization.
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) represents 15 major European car, van, truck and bus manufacturers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Trucks, Ferrari, Ford of Europe and Honda Motor Europe. , Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Group
- For more information about ACEA, please visit and follow us at www.acea.auto. www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/
contact:
- Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47
- Ben Kennard, Content Editor and Press Manager, bk@acea.auto, +32 495 61 84 42
About the EU automotive industry
- 12.9 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 8.3% of all manufacturing employment in the EU
- European government tax revenue is 392.2 billion euros
- European Union trade surplus is 101.9 billion euros
- More than 7% of EU GDP is generated by the automotive industry
- R&D expenditure is 59.1 billion euros per year, equivalent to 31% of the EU total
press release