The European vehicle makers’ trade association, ACEA, has welcomed the latest EU plan to support Europe’s automotive industry amid competitive challenges and rapidly advancing technologies – especially in the contect of the transition to electric mobility.
However, ACEA also said ‘key elements are still missing’ (such as a review of CO2 standards for heavy duty vehicles).
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Ambitious actions to boost infrastructure, demand incentives, and measures to reduce manufacturing costs are needed for cars, vans, trucks, and buses, ACEA said.
ACEA welcomed a new three-year flexibility to meet CO2 targets, a major element in the new European Commission ‘Action Plan’.
“The [EU] Action Plan identifies many key fields where immediate work is needed. The proposed flexibility to meet CO2 targets in the coming years is a welcome first step towards a more pragmatic approach to decarbonisation dictated by market and geopolitical realities. It holds the promise of some breathing space for car and van makers, provided the much-needed demand and charging infrastructure measures now also actually kick-in,” stated Sigrid de Vries, Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
“Nonetheless, despite outlining several promising measures to boost the rollout of infrastructure and uptake of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, this vehicle segment is still missing explicit commitment to launch the review of CO2 standards in 2025, including an urgent assessment of enabling conditions,” added de Vries.
Besides the flexibility on CO2 targets, the plan proposes the establishment of a “Battery Raw Materials Access Entity”. This entity will help car manufacturers get the raw materials they need by pooling their commitments and investments. The Commission will support this entity, ‘making it easier and cheaper for companies to access the materials they need’.
The plan also aims to speed up the permitting process for battery materials refining, going ‘beyond the already identified Strategic Projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act and provide more support for recycling, including funding for recycling facilities’. The Commission will also ‘provide additional support to enhance cooperation in battery recycling amongst industry’.
More from the European Commission on the plan details
