Is It The Era Of Electric World - Europe: About to be the world's first carbon-neutral continent

Is It The Era Of Electric World – Europe: About to be the world’s first carbon-neutral continent

Last Updated: June 19, 2024By Nick EnergyTags: BMW, Electric cars, electric world, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Volvo

The European Commission has set the goal of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral continent and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Based on the current carbon emission of 95 g CO₂/km for passenger cars and 147 g CO₂/km for small commercial vehicles, the carbon emission regulation of automobiles will be reduced by 15% until 2025 and will be strengthened step by step every 5 years thereafter. plan. Then, by 2030, the reduction level for passenger cars will be increased from 37.5% to 55% and small commercial vehicles from 31% to 50%. At the same time, by 2030, 35% of new vehicles sold across Europe will consist of only eco-friendly vehicles such as electric vehicles, and sales of new vehicles with internal combustion engines will be completely banned starting from 2035. It will only be possible to sell and distribute zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) such as pure electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen-electric vehicles (FCEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) with low carbon emissions. The plan is to phase out internal combustion engines in Europe after 2050.

Mercedes-Benz recently revised its electrification strategy from ‘Electric First’ to ‘Electric Only’ and announced a swift implementation plan. By 2022, the automaker will introduce electric vehicles (BEVs) to its entire lineup, and all new cars to be unveiled from 2025 will house one of three electric vehicle-only architectures – ‘MB.EA’, a mid-size passenger car, and ‘AMG. EA’, or commercial vehicle ‘VAN.EA’. Through this, the entire lineup will be converted to electrified models by 2030.

BMW is also accelerating the electrification of electric vehicles with its electric vehicle brand ‘i’. Recently, it launched a new flagship model, ix, and started to expand the market. By 2023, it plans to introduce 13 new electric vehicles and fill 90% of its entire lineup, including the high-performance brand M, with pure electric vehicles. Based on this, it plans to achieve cumulative sales of 2 million electric vehicles by 2025, and increase the proportion of electric vehicles in total sales to more than half by 2030. It also has a plan to supply about 10 million electric vehicles to the global market by 2030.

Mercedes-Benz EV sedan EQE (left) and BMW electric SUV iX / Photo: Mercedes-Benz Media, BMW Group Press

Volkswagen’s first electric SUV ID.4 (left) and Volvo’s first electric XC40 Recharge / Photo: Volkswagen Newsroom, Volvo Media

The Volkswagen Group is expected to be decarbonized by 2030 according to the group’s mid-to-long-term strategy New Auto. By 2025, 73 billion euros will be invested in the development of future technologies, mainly in the electrification and digitalization sectors, to develop the integrated architecture mechatronics platform SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) and integrated battery cells. The electric car that houses the SSP is scheduled to be produced from 2026, so that by 2030, half of Volkswagen’s new models will be electric. Audi has set a goal of being completely carbon-neutral by 2050 by phasing out the production of internal combustion engines by 2033, with only electric vehicles expected to be available from 2026.Volvo is also spurring electrification, starting with its first electric vehicle, the XC40 Recharge, released earlier this year. The strategy is to sell 1 million electric vehicles to the global market by converting 50% of total production to electrified models by 2025. The remaining 50% are hybrid models, and while these will also be reduced in stages, it plans to manufacture only completely zero-emission vehicles in 2030. Through this, the automaker plans to become the first global premium brand with 100% electrification.