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An EU law to electrify company fleets could guarantee demand for more than 2 million electric cars for European carmakers in 2030, according to new analysis by green group T&E. This law, which the EU Transport Commissioner has been charged with drafting, can deliver on average half of the EV sales that European carmakers need to meet their binding 2030 CO₂ emissions target and avoid paying penalties. For carmakers such as Stellantis or BMW this goes up to 54% and 58%. T&E is calling for an EU target for all fleets with over 100 cars to buy only electric as of 2030.
Fleet electrification targets would especially benefit European automotive groups as 62% of their car sales are in the corporate market compared to only 49% for non-European carmakers. [1]
Corporate cars are the EU’s largest automotive market with about 60% of new sales going into this segment. Despite its high potential to support the European automotive sector in its transition to electric, this market is not pulling its weight. Companies in Europe are hardly electrifying faster than private households (14.3% vs 13.6%). In the EU’s two biggest car markets, Germany and France, companies are electrifying even more slowly than private households.
In January the EU Commission launched a dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry which President von der Leyen is presiding over. The main goal of this dialogue is “to address critical challenges the sector is facing and ensure its continued success as a major driver of the European economies”. This dialogue will lead to an Automotive Industrial Action Plan that will be presented on the 5th of March. A new EU law setting binding electrification targets for large fleets would clearly support EU car manufacturers' investments in electrification while bringing almost 7 million more affordable EVs onto the used car market by 2035 for private buyers. In Europe, nearly 8 in 10 EU citizens buy their car on the used market.
Stef Cornelis, director electric fleets programme at T&E, says: “Today more than ever before Europe needs climate policies that also strengthen our competitiveness. Electrification targets for large fleets are doing exactly that: we ask large companies to go faster on electric and as such boost demand for more than 2 million EVs made by European car manufacturers.”
“Instead of lobbying to weaken emissions rules, European carmakers should advocate for a European fleets law that will actually support them in meeting their targets.”
T&E is also calling for the European Commission to announce an EU eco-score initiative - mirroring the French ecobonus - that rates and rewards the production of low carbon electric vehicles that are using clean materials. As a result, EVs made in Europe would be better rated thanks to cleaner energy used in the manufacturing process. The EU fleets law should set a requirement that corporate EVs need to meet a certain eco-score level and, as such, boost demand for made-in-EU cars.
Stef Cornelis adds: “As a next step the European Commission needs to move forward quickly by announcing binding electrification targets for large fleets. This will create investment certainty, not only for carmakers but also other key sectors such as the charging infrastructure industry in helping them to plan grid infrastructure roll-out and investments.”
ENDS
[1] Calculations are based on extrapolating data from the French fleets market. In France, companies with over 100 vehicles (excluding dealerships and car manufacturers) represent 41% of all corporate car sales. This analysis uses the same percentage in the remaining EU countries, together with the corporate share of each European carmaker. The fleet regulation’s impact is then compared to the ZEV sales required for carmakers to meet their 2030 CO2 targets, including expected improvements in ICE efficiency and hybrid sales.
