The last time a car CO2 regulation was negotiated in 2013, the agreement was blocked at the last moment by Germany, resulting in a year of delay and renegotiation. This year, it looks like history could be about to repeat itself, writes Greg Archer.
While most of the political attention is – rightly – focused on the headline target for CO2 reduction, the discussion on car emissions has also much more to it, writes Greg Archer.
New mobility services like Uber and Lyft offer the potential to get cities moving, improve quality of life and reduce emissions. But this will only happen if new and traditional mobility services can be integrated to make a more attractive offering that finally persuades drivers out of their cars, write Greg Archer and Yoann Le Petit.
The revelation that German carmakers have tested diesel exhaust fumes on monkeys is just the most recent in an appalling catalogue of scandals in which the German auto industry has been embroiled, writes Greg Archer.
Summoning the heads of Germany’s carmakers to a ‘diesel summit’ could never give a positive glow and banish the dark clouds created by cities proposing diesel car bans.
Concerns that sharing schemes do not deliver a net reduction in car use are not supported by evidence, writes Greg Archer. Now, digitisation and the sharing economy provide an opportunity to reduce the number of vehicles in our cities even further, he contends.
The move towards autonomous vehicles, driven by the progressive electrification of transport, and backed up by road pricing schemes, all carry the potential of radically cleaning up Europe's transport system, writes Greg Archer.
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