mobility turnaround climate target missed: only 15 instead of 20 million e-cars by 2030 in germany
With the traffic light coalition’s target of 15 million electric cars by 2030, the climate target for transport will be missed, according to a study. There is a gap of five million e-cars, according to an analysis by the wuppertal institute on behalf of the environmental association greenpeace. The drive turnaround must be accelerated. Further measures are needed – such as a ban on new registrations of cars with gasoline and diesel engines from 2025 and a reform of vehicle taxation.
The study states that transport will account for around 146 million metric tons or almost 20 percent of all CO2 emissions in Germany in 2020. "The need for action in the transport sector is all the more urgent because policymakers have not yet succeeded in permanently reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector."
Electric cars alone are not enough
Greenpeace transport expert tobias austrup wrote in a foreword to the study that the drive system turnaround is not the only factor in climate protection in transport, but it is nevertheless a very relevant one. "It promises faster significant emission reductions than the mobility turnaround, i.e. avoiding and shifting trips by car to climate-friendly alternatives such as public transport or the bicycle." car traffic is responsible for the majority of traffic emissions, accounting for almost two-thirds of them.
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If, as assumed in many scenarios, the share of CO2 emissions from passenger cars in total road traffic emissions remains more or less constant in the future, the following picture would emerge: the Climate Protection Act specifies a sector target of no more than 85 million metric tons of CO2 in transport in 2030 – this would correspond to a reduction of around 48 percent compared with the year 1990. Emissions from car traffic must be reduced to around 52 million by 2030.
With 15 million battery electric cars, however, passenger car traffic would still generate over 64 million tons of CO2 in 2030. "To ensure emissions from passenger car traffic of no more than 52 million tons per year, at least 20 million e-cars must be registered in germany by 2030." according to data from the german Federal Motor Transport Authority, there are currently around 650,000 pure e-cars on german roads, out of a total of more than 48 million passenger cars.
Austrup wrote that more measures are needed to accelerate the fuel transition. Among the most effective were: the introduction of a new registration tax for CO2-intensive cars, a higher CO2 price, a comprehensive reform of company car taxation – and a ban on new registrations for cars with gasoline and diesel engines as early as 2025.
The coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP states that, according to the proposals of the EU Commission, only CO2-neutral vehicles will be allowed in the transport sector in Europe in 2035 – in Germany, this will have an effect sooner than that.