The future of the automobile is electric and everything indicates that there is no way around it. Another thing is how this is achieved by reducing polluting emissions and investing in new technologies without compromising an industry that employs 14 million people in Europe.
The latest data from the European Environment Agency indicates that in 2020 there were at least 238,000 premature deaths in the European Union due to pollution. The number has been reduced by more than 40% since 2005, thanks to the different environmental plans programmed, but it is still alarming. An additional effort is therefore needed not only in the field of automobiles and transport.
In the automotive sector, the major European objective is set for 2035: new cars with combustion engines, not even hybrids, can no longer be sold in Europe. There will only be room for zero-emission vehicles: electric ones. They cannot be sold, but they will be able to circulate until 2050.
Until 2035 is reached and given the obvious existing health problems, the European Commission approved a notable tightening of the standards on CO2 and NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles. The new requirements, known as Euro 7, were to come into force in 2025 and, for the first time, the pollution contributed by some components, such as brakes or tires, would be measured.
However, after strong pressure from the industry, European governments have agreed to delay the application of the standard for two years (to 2025 for cars and vans and to 2027 for trucks) and to lower some of its requirements. The current emissions limits for passenger cars and vans remain practically intact. The agreement, pending approval by the European Parliament, has been reached just a few days after the United Kingdom also lowered its environmental goals, both in the automotive sector and in heating emissions.
“If Euro 7 is applied, factories will have to close,” had warned Wayne Griffihs, president of Seat and the sectoral employers’ association Anfac, who appealed to the responsibility of the Spanish Government during its presidency of the EU. And the sector has achieved it with the agreement of the European Ministers of Competitiveness, chaired by the Spanish Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez. “We believe that with this proposal we achieve broad support, a balance in the investment costs of the manufacturing brands and we improve the environmental benefits derived from this regulation,” Gómez stated after the agreement.
In Spain, this first agreement has been welcomed with special relief, because its factories are the ones that would be most affected by Euro 7 as they specialize in small cars. Anfac had calculated an increase in costs of between 2,000 and 3,000 euros per car and would affect all Seat production in Martorell, Volkswagen in Navarra, much of Stellantis in Vigo, Zaragoza and Madrid, and Renault in Valladolid. Only Ford in Valencia with the Kuga and Mercedes in Vitoria with their vans would avoid the blow.
“Investments of between 20,000 and 30,000 million euros were required to reduce emissions by only between 2 and 4% of vehicles that will no longer be marketed in 2035,” Anfac stressed. “The ministers’ position is an improvement on the Commission’s proposal, which was totally disproportionate,” said Sigrid de Vries, director general of the European manufacturers’ association Acea.
Quite the opposite of what the NGO Transport thinks.
“With Euro 7, the European authorities proposed ambitious objectives that require strong investments in parallel with those that the automotive industry is already assuming in its transition towards electric vehicles, which would mean a significant effort for companies and perhaps a loss of focus.” in the final objective, which is to have a strong and competitive sustainable, autonomous and connected vehicle industry in Europe in the next decade,” says Begoña Cristeto, partner responsible for Industry and Automotive at KPMG in Spain. She also recalled that the objectives are not abandoned, but rather delayed in time (two years), trying to limit the impact that their implementation within the initially planned deadlines would mean for numerous plants and that threatened their continuity.
Once the transition has been eased, the question is whether the 2035 date can also be reconsidered to prohibit the sale of combustion cars. “A change in deadlines seems difficult, but it is true that European manufacturers have always defended the position that there were alternative ways to seek a reduction in emissions that did not go solely through the prohibition of marketing vehicles with combustion engines, since the Renewal of the European automobile fleet, in many countries such as Spain, which is very old, could also be addressed by encouraging the purchase of combustion vehicles with more efficient engines like those manufactured today and which would represent an intermediate step, and more acceptable to manufacturers and consumers, without giving up the emissions reduction objectives,” says Cristeto.
“It depends on whether the electric car manages to reach a market share of 40 or 50% in 2030,” say other sources in the sector. The Nordics are already very close to it, while in Spain they have barely reached 5% of the market, with a charging network very far from what was planned. “In Spain you don’t see electric cars on the street, you only see Teslas,” they add.
One of the big risks is that consumer confusion increases when choosing which car to buy, as pointed out by José Ignacio Moya, general director of the Faconauto dealer association. “The Council’s proposal is good news because it opens the doors or, at least, the debate regarding a more reasonable entry into force of Euro 7. In any case, we maintain our doubts because the rule could represent a new element of confusion for the buyer and, in addition, it will force the automotive industry to invest in technological developments that would have a very limited environmental impact, when European manufacturers are putting all their efforts so that the electric vehicle reaches as soon as possible and to the largest number of citizens possible. “, it states.
At the request of Germany, an exception has been introduced to continue selling gasoline cars: e-fuels or synthetic fuels. They emit some CO2, which oil companies promise to offset through carbon capture. However, the European Commission is working on such restrictive regulations that make its implementation very difficult.
“There is no turning back,” says Makoto Uchida, president of Nissan, referring to electrification. His goal is to abandon combustion engines by 2030 to sell only electric ones.
“There has been more unanimity against Euro 7 than in the adoption of measures against China,” say sources in the sector, who recall that Germany is reluctant to adopt sanctions due to its great positioning in the Asian market.
The reality is that Chinese manufacturers are far ahead with electric vehicles. “The new mobility has brought not only new automobile manufacturers, such as the Chinese case, but also new players from other sectors (technology, energy, etc.) that compete with traditional manufacturers and that are developing an offer of services every year. more flexible and diverse for the consumer,” says Begoña Cristeto. “Those who know how to adapt to the new environment will, without a doubt, become the new leaders of the sector,” she concludes.
