Press Release
2015-1-27

On the occasion of an expert meeting in the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union in Brussels, Matthias Machnig, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, today presents the study "CO2 Emission Reduction Potential for Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles Post 2020" commissioned by the Ministry. The study concludes that a further significant CO2 reduction to less than 95 g CO2/km requires the wide use of alternative drivetrain technologies, especially electric mobility.

State Secretary Machnig said: "It is clear that we cannot reach the EU climate targets unless we further reduce CO2 emissions also in the transport sector. The rules at EU level have so far focused on CO2 emissions from the fleet of new passenger cars. The study shows that a further significant CO2 reduction requires the wide use of alternative drivetrain technologies. This goes hand in hand with great economic challenges. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right time for setting new CO2 targets for the post-2020 period in close coordination with the measures to promote electric mobility. We need a comprehensive approach to avoid carbon emissions in the road traffic sector and a broad range of well coordinated instruments and measures."

According to the study, a further considerable reduction of emissions is technically feasible, but represents a major challenge in economic terms as more alternative drivetrain technologies including plug-in hybrids and battery powered vehicles must be brought onto the market. These technologies continue to be much more expensive for the foreseeable future so that consumers must pay higher prices for new cars. The use of new technologies helps to save fuel costs, but the additional costs usually cannot be fully compensated by these savings.

"Therefore, I call for an open discussion involving all stakeholders. Last October, the European Council set the framework for this debate. It asked the European Commission to examine further instruments and measures for a comprehensive and technology-neutral concept after 2020. At the European level, we should as soon as possible start the discussion on such a comprehensive concept that also creates incentives for the reduction of emissions from existing vehicles.

The currently applicable European rules on CO2 emissions from passenger cars were last amended in March 2014. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 43/2009, average CO2 emissions from the fleet of new passenger cars in Europe must be lowered to 130 g CO2/km by 2015 and 95 g CO2/km by the end of 2020. The new target for the period until the end of 2020 that was set in the context of the revision of March 2014 corresponds to a further reduction of emissions by about 25 percent compared to the average emissions from the fleet of new passenger cars in 2013 (126.7 g CO2/km). The European Commission must review the applicable rules by the end of 2015.

The study "CO2 Emission Reduction Potential for Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles Post 2020" commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy was compiled by the Institute for Automotive Engineering at RWTH Aachen University (Institut für Kraftfahrzeuge - ika). It makes an important contribution to the discussion on the review and the further development of CO2 rules for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles for the post-2020 period.

The study is available here:

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