Electric truck uptake too slow to meet EU climate targets, industry warns
European truck manufacturers are urgently calling on the European Commission for consultations on the 2030 CO2 emission reduction targets. They claim that, at the current uptake rate, the targets are unachievable.
At present, electric trucks make up about 3.5 per cent of new truck sales in Europe. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), electric truck sales would need to increase tenfold over the next 4.5 years to meet the EU's goal of a 45 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
Christian Levin, CEO of Swedish truck manufacturer Scania and chair of ACEA’s Commercial Vehicles Board, said on Tuesday this transition is especially difficult amid a shrinking European market and global tariff uncertainties. Manufacturers are ready to deliver electric trucks, he stressed, but demand remains low.
Lack of infrastructure
Levin believes the EU needs better infrastructure and government incentives to encourage uptake. "Today, there are only a few hundred public charging stations in Europe where electric trucks can charge. That is far too few," he said.
To shift the balance, electric driving should become cheaper for transport companies, while diesel use should be made more expensive, the Scania CEO explained. The higher purchase price of electric trucks - about three times that of diesel trucks due to costly battery technology - needs to be offset somehow, he argued.
"There are only a few hundred public charging stations in Europe where electric trucks can charge"
On Tuesday, ACEA plans to formally request urgent talks with the European Commission. The companies do not want to challenge the targets themselves, but to discuss how they can realistically be achieved.
Levin warned that failure to meet the EU's targets could result in fines of up to one billion euros per manufacturer, which would prove fatal to the industry. "If we want to maintain our high standard of living here in Europe, however, it is essential that we retain our industrial companies," the CEO concluded.
PHOTO © Daniel Bockwoldt / AFP
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