By mid-century, Parisians and other European drivers may have a choice of battery cars or mass transit.
If European regulators follow through on a proposal now getting serious consideration all fossil fuel-powered vehicles could be banned from the Continent’s roadways by 2050.
The proposal is part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Europe by 60% by mid-century, according to the Dutch news site NU.NL. Regulators blame automotive emissions for half of the carbon dioxide produced in Europe.
The plan would be phased in over the next four decades, with the number of gas and diesel-powered automobiles being cut in half by 2030.
European regulators are already making it difficult for the internal combustion engine. By 2012, makers will need to cut the CO2 output of their average vehicle to just 130 grams per kilometer. Since there is a direct correlation between the fuel that goes into an engine and the CO2 that comes out, this works out to approximately 66 mpg. By 2020, the carbon dioxide figure drops to just 95 g/km, with the fleet-average fuel economy rising to 100 mpg.
“The industry actually can’t make that target,” said Lennart Stegland, the man behind Volvo’s electric vehicle program, at least not without a major shift to battery power. The Swedish maker’s CEO Stephan Jacoby recently told TheDetroitBureau.com that Volvo expects to have the “majority” of its vehicles using at least some sort of battery propulsion by 2020. (For a look at the Volvo program and a review of the C30 Electric, Click Here.)
Originally slow to embrace battery technology – instead favoring high-mileage diesels — European makers have begun a game of rapid catch-up, even developing high-performance electric sports cars, like the Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell, which is set for launch in 2014. BMW, meanwhile, has created an entire brand-within-a-brand focusing on battery propulsion. But there is still plenty of opposition, Ford among several makers that have criticized the latest European proposal.
To get consumers to go along, NU.NL says the European Union is looking at a mix of carrots and sticks. “The EU considers that taxes and other charges for more polluting vehicles…should be higher,” which could mean boosting what are already some of the highest national fuel taxes in the world. More cities may copy the approach in London where motorists pay hefty fees to drive into the city center – unless they are using a vehicle on battery power.
Considering that three-quarters of travel in urban centers is done by car the challenge won’t be an easy one, but incentives to get motorists to switch to battery vehicles will likely be a key part of the final proposal. So will making even more mass transit available.
A more extensive version of the plan is set to be released this week.