Tag: electric cars

SPECIAL REPORT / Car manufacturers envision a mostly electrified European market by 2030, in which car sharing schemes will have taken off in city centres, new mobility operators will offer multiplatform transport packages, and the age of ‘the prosumer’ could be upon us.

Britain needs a more ambitious programme to encourage the uptake of low-carbon vehicles because sales of the cars have disappointed, a committee of British MPs said today (20 September).

SPECIAL REPORT / A new US fuel efficiency standard finalised by the Obama administration last month will jolt America’s nascent electric car industry to life, but could leave European auto manufacturers racing to catch up, analysts and industry sources say.

The European Commission is planning to re-introduce a clause for ‘super credits’ that would reward manufacturers that switch to electric cars with permits to make high-emitting gas guzzlers, EurActiv understands. The controversial clause will be part of proposals for CO2 in Cars, due to be announced today (11 July).

Pay-as-you-drive electric car rentals are expected to help cut pollution and reduce traffic in Paris, as the new fleet of fully electric Autiolib’ vehicles hits the French capital.

The European Union is pushing for an "integrated approach" to developing the continent's urban infrastructure, encouraging public transport, cycling and the use of electric cars, said Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas in an exclusive interview with EurActiv Germany.

More transparency for consumers on the benefits of electric vehicles is urgently required, said Europe's biggest motoring consumer group yesterday (19 May).

A majority of Europeans would be happy to pay higher taxes for more driving, claims a study commissioned by the European Commission's transport department and published in March. EurActiv France reports.

It's a bold call, maybe even outlandish – the end of new gasoline cars by 2020. But if you listen to Shai Agassi, founder and chief executive of Better Place, an Israeli company providing infrastructure for electric cars, you might want to believe it. 

Britain's coalition government will commit 43 million pounds (€51.6 million) over 18 months to subsidising the uptake of electric cars, the Department for Transport (DfT) said on Wednesday (28 July).

For various reasons, from rising oil prices to changing consumer preferences, the number of electric cars will rise steadily in the coming years. Yet there are a variety of factors which mean that the technology is still far from suitable for mass production, including technical issues as well as political ones, writes Eric Heymann of Deutsche Bank (DB) Research in an April paper.

Despite a strong push to ramp up the production of electric cars around the world, experts warn that their roll-out needs to be carefully planned before investors open their wallets.

France's ambitious national strategy on electric cars is awaiting a clearer position from the European Union, EurActiv France reports.

EU ministers will trigger a debate on an EU strategy for electric cars this week amid warnings by green groups that the electricity used to charge the vehicles could prove as polluting as the fuel engines they are supposed to replace.