Platform reacts to the Clean Industrial Deal and the Automotive Action Plan
REACTIONS
Within the past two weeks, the European Commission unveiled its Clean Industrial Deal and its Automotive Industry Action Plan – two key moments for the development of electric mobility and its industries in Europe. In this newsletter, several leaders of the Platform for Electromobility wished to quickly react to the Commission’s announcements.
While these are initial reactions (not necessarily reflecting the views of all members) they highlight key priorities and concerns. In the coming weeks, the Platform will consolidate detailed reactions and recommendations after consulting all members. Overall, the risk associated with technological neutrality from 2035 in road transport raises significant concerns. We believe this could prove fatal for the future of the European automotive industry. Find out why here.
Our input to the Strategic Dialogue for the Future of the Automotive Industry
Public Consultation
Ensuring a clear path to zero-emission mobility:
Our response to the Strategic Dialogue
The Platform for Electromobility reaffirms strong support for a clear and consistent regulatory framework guiding the environmental transition in transport. Recent political debates risk undermining the EU’s firm decision to phase out combustion engines by 2035, creating uncertainty that could jeopardize both the European automotive industry transition and the continent’s broader decarbonization objectives. Any deviation from the established trajectory would be a step backward, delaying investment and weakening Europe’s leadership in clean mobility.
The 2035 emission reduction targets provide essential certainty for manufacturers, investors, fleet owners, and infrastructure planners, ensuring that the necessary conditions for the large-scale deployment of electromobility are in place. Instead of revisiting settled decisions, efforts should focus on supporting the automotive sector in meeting its commitments, including by accelerating the deployment of charging infrastructure, creating demand-side measures, and securing access to critical raw materials.
As we advance towards zero-emission mobility, we remain concerned by attempts to divert focus and investment away from electrification towards unproven and inefficient alternatives, such as CO₂-neutral fuels (e-fuels) for road transport. This would not only delay the transition but also create additional costs for consumers and industry.
We reiterate our full support for the EU regulatory framework aimed at achieving 2035 zero-emission targets for cars and vans.
Concerning the inter-institutional agreement confirmed by recital 11 of the CO2 Standards Regulation on the introduction of synthetic fuels beyond this date, if there were to be any role for alternative fuels, it should be minimal and limited to vehicles running exclusively on 100% climate neutral RFNBOs.
To enable the transition to a decarbonised transport system, we emphasise the urgent need for a swift and ambitious implementation of the AFIR and the EPBD. Ensuring a timely and effective roll-out of a comprehensive charging ecosystem, encompassing public, private, and depot charging, is critical to supporting the increasing adoption of EVs. This requires not only the deployment of infrastructure in line with AFIR’s minimum targets but also a coordinated approach across Member States to remove administrative and financial barriers that could slow down progress.
Regarding demand, corporate fleets owners and operators are key players given their significant share of total vehicle sales and annual mileage. Establishing legally binding targets for fleet electrification would create market certainty, accelerate the uptake of zero-emission vehicles, and increase affordability by accelerating creation of second-hand market for EVs.
[Chairs' edito] EVs & batteries: for 2025 we need clear policy objectives maintained with more action to build local industries.
Edito
The Green Deal offers Europe the framework to lead in clean mobility. However, realising its full potential requires regulatory certainty, industrial strategy, and people-centred policies, write Kinga Timaru-Kast and Julia Poliscanova.
The European Green Deal, the flagship legislative package of the previous European Commission, has set Europe on a transformative journey toward clean mobility. It gave the continent a framework of what it needs to succeed in this transition. Agreements across the package were reached thanks to strong collaboration among sectors of the clean mobility ecosystem, from industries to civil society organisations. Such cooperation is paramount to ensuring this transition happens swiftly, competitively, and sustainably.
In recent months, the international competition in the e-mobility and batteries value chain race took another dimension. Looking forward to the starting European mandate, three pillars must stay clear in mind of policy makers: regulatory certainty and simplification, industrial strategy, and people-centred policies.
Creating an investment friendly continent
The success of the Green Deal lies in its comprehensive regulatory framework, including landmark measures such as the Battery Regulation, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), Energy Performance of Building Directives (EPBD), Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), and the CO2 Standards for both cars and heavy-duty vehicles, not to mention later acts on critical raw materials and net zero industries. Implementation must now be the focus. These laws will provide the necessary infrastructure, clean energy, supply of clean vehicles, provided they are fully implemented and enforced. Implementation of these acts should come with simplification and streamlining of reporting requirements.
Any regulatory U-turns on the EU’s mobility decarbonisation objectives would destabilise and penalise industries already investing heavily in this transition. Additional, larger, investments into European clean industries are still needed from private sector stakeholders. But no investor will choose Europe without a clear path forward. A commitment to fully implement these measures, including at the Member State level, is critical to maintaining momentum and attracting future investments. Europe’s industries need stability to continue driving innovation and competing globally.
The Green Deal provides a good vehicle but the race on competitive clean mobility remains to be won.
An industrial policy taking full advantage of the e-mobility value chain
Regulatory frameworks must be paired with a robust industrial strategy, focussing on scaling up manufacturing projects and developing EU Green Deal secondary legislation designed to enhance, not undermine, European competitiveness.
Industrial policy needs to include public investment into clean technology – in particular in the entire clean transport value chain, lowering energy costs for manufacturing, and fostering a robust recycling value chain to harness the potential of “urban mines” from end-of-life batteries.
Simplifying permitting processes will unlock great renewable energy potential to decarbonise electricity and lower costs, facilitate the establishment or scale up of manufacturing or material processing sites and the roll-out of clean transport infrastructure.
Finally, Europe must also weigh in to ensure a level the playing field with global competitors in terms of subsidies and support mechanisms. For certain industries, level playing field can only be reached by matching competitors’ support: for examples, for battery manufacturing, the US IRA provides a significant op-ex support per kWh produced; for reskilling workers, massive support for training automotive workers is proposed.
Without these measures, the transition risks stalling under competitive pressures from other regions.
People-centred transition is key
The transition to clean mobility cannot succeed without addressing the needs of Europeans. Providing high-quality and future-proof job opportunities is a first step in including Europeans in the transition.
Europe’s new industrial policy approach must also include upskilling and reskilling programs, so that the European workforce is adequately trained to develop and deploy new technologies and thus ensure that the continent’s industries are future-proof.
Lifting the burden of transitioning and ensuring affordability of clean mobility is a second step. Electric vehicles will become more accessible, and even more so once there is a sufficient second-hand market. Considering that two-thirds of new vehicles are purchased by fleet managers, not by individual drivers, and owned for just three years, corporate fleet electrification mandates would accelerate the creation of a second-hand market by a decade.
Going beyond, technologies like vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) can empower individuals to actively participate in the energy transition – and remunerate them to do so. Multiplying mobility options, by investing in safe infrastructure for light and actives modes, as well as in public transport and high-speed rail will help a lot more people embark on the clean mobility transition.
In summary, the new legislative mandate needs to go all in on electric mobility and clean tech, including taking it as an EU-wide reindustrialisation strategy brining Europeans along. 2025 will be decisive if the EU Green Deal is set on course to succeed.
As we step into this new year and legislative cycle, let us strengthen these priorities and demonstrate that the EU can not only lead in climate policy, but match it with equally effective industrial leadership. This is essential for Europe’s transformative journey toward clean mobility to deliver on prosperity and sustainability.
[Open letter] Accelerating the electrification of fleets as soon as possible is key to cut transport emissions, increase demand and affordability of electric vehicles
Open letter
To President Ursula von der Leyen
To Executive-Vice-President for the Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné
To European Commission for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas
To European Commissioner for Climate, Clean Growth and Net Zero, Wopke Hoekstra
16th December 2024,
Brussels
First of all, we would like to congratulate you and the entire Collège of Commissioners for the Parliamentary approval of the 27th November. We look forward to working together with you and supporting you during the upcoming mandate.
As Commissioner Tzitzikostas rightfully mentioned during your hearing of the 4th November in the European Parliament, the EU action to accelerate fleet electrification represents a golden opportunity to not only tackle transport emissions, the EU’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, but also widen access to cheaper second-hand electric vehicles. We therefore very much welcome the announcement in the Commissioner for Transport’s mission letter to “put forward a legislative proposal for clean corporate fleets,” an initiative that Commissioner for Climate views as “a great opportunity to move the needle in terms of climate impact,” as expressed during the hearing of the 7th November. We strongly encourage the Commission to propose a regulation as soon as possible in 2025, ideally as part of the Clean Industrial Deal’s Automotive Action Plan.
6 out of 10 cars sold in the EU are company cars, with those vehicles driving twice as much as private cars. The purchasing decisions of corporate fleets have far wider implications than just for that enterprise. Company cars tend to spend 3 to 5 years in a fleet before going into the used car market. With 8 out of 10 Europeans buying their cars in the used car market, this is a crucial channel for EU citizens.
At the same time heavy-duty vehicles remain one of the challenging segments with the largest potential to decarbonize, with less than 1% of the EU’s truck fleet currently being zero-emission. Electric trucks are gaining momentum rapidly, with costs declining and infrastructure being rolled out. However, without a supporting regulatory framework for big corporate fleets, adoption risks lagging the levels required to achieve the EU’s climate goals.
Accelerating the transition towards electric vehicles beyond existing policies is a necessity to achieve transport’s net-zero and the 2040 climate target of -90%. As such, the faster fleets electrify their company cars, the faster more households and businesses will be able to access more affordable electric vehicles powered by clean European electricity, the faster we can reduce transport emissions. This is a win-win for climate and consumers.
In line with the Mission Letters, Clean Industrial Deal, and the EU industrial action plan for the automotive sector that they mention, a regulation setting binding targets for large fleets is crucial to accompany supply-side policies with strong demand-side measures and thus ensure a successful decarbonation of road transport. We call on the Clean Industrial Deal to include the legislative initiative on corporate fleets.
Corporate fleets are in a great position to lead the way on electrification, with many already committed to fully transitioning their fleets by the end of the decade through Climate Group’s EV100 campaign. On a total cost of ownership basis, electric vehicles have the advantage over polluting vehicles, meaning electrification makes strong business sense too. A clear regulatory framework would simply ensure that all fleets are playing their part while at the same time create investment certainty and clarity for company fleets.
That’s why the Platform for Electromobility, the alliance of land transport industries, NGOs, civil society and cities, and EV100/+, the leading global initiative bringing together fleets committed to electrification, are uniting and calling on you to make this a key priority of your upcoming mandate and come forward in your 2025 Work Programme with a Greening corporate fleet regulation setting binding electrification targets for cars, vans and heavy-duty vehicles.
We would very much appreciate a meeting where we can discuss this initiative. We count on your leadership to bring forward a regulation setting binding zero-emission targets for large fleets.
With kind regards,
The members of the Platform for Electromobility
[Videos] Maintaining 2035 CO2 reductions objectives for Europe's industries beyond automotive.
Energy & Industry
What would a revision of the CO2 Standards for cars mean for public transports, renewable energy production, and clean tech's industrial ecosystem in Europe?
Our members Eurocities, European Geothermal Energy Council, and Danfoss, all passed in front of the camera to bring their perspective to what a weakining of the 2035 emission targets would mean for, respectively, consumers interests, renewable energy developmenet, and industrial investments in Europe.
1/ Sanjeev Kumar (EGEC) on importance of cars' CO2 Standards for renewable energy industries in Europe
The synergies between electric vehicles and renewable energy sources are significant. For example, EVs can act as flexible loads and storage units, helping balance and match renewable energy production and consumption. In the geothermal sector, we see an added advantage. Lithium, a critical material for EV batteries, can be produced as a byproduct of geothermal energy extraction. This creates a synergistic relationship between clean energy, e-mobility and European industrial autonomy.
Reopening the CO2 standards would create uncertainty for investors and businesses, not only in the renewable energy sector but also for technologies that enable synergies between EVs and renewables, such as grid flexibility solutions. It could hinder the development of new renewable energy plants and delay the integration of innovative energy systems that are essential for a clean energy future.
If your goal is to decuple the energy demand by four times, then yes, synthetic fuels are the answer. A car running on e-fuels requires three to four times more energy to travel the same distance as an battery electric vehicle. So, if you want to build four times more wind turbines and other renewable energy plants to decarbonise transport, synthetic fuels might seem appealing (ironic). Besides, e-fuels can still be produced using fossil fuels, which doesn’t provide the clarity or investment certainty needed for renewable energy development.
2/ Thomas Lymes (Eurocities) on importance of cars' CO2 Standards for European city dwellers
While electric mobility offers significant benefits, especially when it comes to improving air quality and reducing noise pollution, the revolution won’t happen without strong and stable regulatory framework. The phase-out of internal combustion engines will push us to adopt more diverse, sustainable mobility solutions for urban residents and commuters. Together with a shift towards alternative modes of transport, the phase-out is the missing piece in the puzzle of a sustainable urban mobility.
Reopening the CO2 standards would create uncertainty for both public and private investments in cities. It would wobble the incentive of local authorities in designing and building the clean mobility ecosystems that benefit city residents. Cities mobility plans are build around the promise of a mainstream zero-emissions mobility. The same goes for investments in areas like charging infrastructure, road renovation, power grid upgrades, and smart infrastructure are crucial. Any uncertainty could stall these efforts.
Additionally, this would confuse consumers, delaying their vehicle purchase decisions and postponing the essential decarbonisation of transport in our cities. On that note, large fleet owners have a key role to play. We strongly welcome the announcement of initiatives to clean large corporate fleets as a way to accelerate the shift to zero-emission mobility and make it affordable for the majority of the population.
There’s still uncertainty about the cost of driving with synthetic fuels and whether they truly benefit air quality. We could only consider their use if we can ensure that e-fuels are at least as energy-efficient, clean, and affordable to operate as electric vehicles. Otherwise, they will not represent a viable alternative for sustainable urban mobility.
3/ Bonaldi Da Costa (Danfoss) on importance of cars' CO2 Standards for European clean tech industries
Electric mobility is central to Europe’s industrial future. The 2035 zero-emission cars goal provides a clear and stable framework that attracts investments into sectors like automotive, batteries, and infrastructure. CO2 Standards are actually Europe’s most straightforward clean industrial strategy, helping companies across the continent transition to a net-zero economy. Without this clarity, we risk slowing down investments and innovation needed to develop the net-zero industrial ecosystem.
Reopening the CO2 standards would create significant uncertainty for industrial actors who have already made substantial investments in this transition. It would penalize companies like Danfoss and others in the automotive, battery, and infrastructure sectors who have committed to zero-emission solutions. Attracting further investment is only possible with a consistent and clear regulatory framework, and reversing now would disrupt the progress we’ve made.
We have limited resources to invest in the clean tech revolution—whether it’s for research, development, and innovation or the infrastructure required to support the transition, such as charging networks. And so we simply don’t have the luxury to invest in two parallel value chains: battery electric and synthetic fuels, and their related infrastructures. Let’s focus our effort on tested technologies.
Furthermore, clean e-fuels will be available in very limited quantities, and they should be reserved for hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and shipping. For road transport, battery electrification remains by far the most energy-efficient option. Diverting resources to e-fuels for road transport would slow down the progress we need in more critical areas.