Transport Archives

MEPs voted in Strasbourg on Wednesday (3 October) in favour of a 40% CO2 reduction target for light vehicles by 2030. The target is higher than what the Commission has proposed and tough talks with national capitals now loom large on the horizon.

The automotive industry is moving ever closer in the mass development of connected cars, yet a number of challenges still exist for policymakers if the EU is to foster the development of the technology alongside fulfiling its long-term goal of zero fatalities by 2050 as part of its ambitious "Vision Zero" programme.

Denmark announced on Tuesday (2 October) that it will ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines by 2030 and hopes to have 1 million electric and hybrid cars on the roads by then.

Europe's gas industry wants renewable fuels completely accounted for in updated car CO2 rules. But the MEP charged with helming the legislation's revision hopes to shield her report from industry attacks ahead of a crucial vote on Wednesday (3 October).

Four Central European countries announced Monday (1 October) a plan to build a high-speed rail link between Budapest and Warsaw, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter  Szijjártó.

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.

Drivers of the most polluting diesel vehicles can now be fined in Brussels after a grace period expired on Sunday (30 September), just as air pollution in the Belgian capital looks ready to heavily influence local elections.

At first glance, buildings and transport may look like two unrelated subjects. But with the mass deployment of electric vehicles, managing the electricity consumption of cars when they recharge becomes critical to ensure grid stability, writes Harry Verhaar.

Germany’s environment ministry revealed on Wednesday (26 September) that the Bundesrepublik will back an EU-wide 30% CO2 cut for cars and vans - lower than expected by green NGOs - ahead of an important vote in the European Parliament next week.

Air pollution in Brussels has gotten worse for the second year in a row, according to data published by the national government.

The European Commission ordered Ryanair on Wednesday (26 September)  to respect EU rules by giving workers contracts in the country they live rather than in Ireland where its planes are registered.

The head of the European Parliament’s environment committee has urged her MEP colleagues not to rush the adoption of new EU rules on heavy-duty vehicle emissions, casting doubt on whether the Third Mobility Package can be finalised under this current Parliament.

German high-end carmaker BMW said Tuesday (25 September) that new stricter emissions tests for cars as well as refits to older vehicles and global trade tensions would leave revenues and profits short of its full-year forecast.

EU lawmakers are currently tinkering with the European Commission’s first attempt to regulate heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emissions. But a debate is now raging about how strict those cuts should be and how soon they should be enforced.

Distributed energy solutions such as solar PV, batteries, and smart controls are getting cheaper by the day and will soon outperform traditional energy sources such as coal, gas, and nuclear power, says Hervé Touati. In any case, Blockchain-type solutions will be needed for the mass deployment of electric vehicles, he warns.

The French government is thinking about taxing foreign heavy goods vehicles but François de Rugy, the new minister of ecological transition, denies the return of a “green tax”.  EURACTIV France's media partner Ouest-France reports.

Transport is responsible for a quarter of the EU's total emissions, and 25% of that comes from heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses. But countries are struggling to bring the levels down and it remains unclear what is the best way to go about taming such a problematic sector.

The expected benefits of electrified and shared vehicles are real and quantified. Yet, they are not guaranteed. There is another, darker, pathway that we could inadvertently slip into, called the “Hell Scenario” of autonomous mobility, warns Robin Chase.

Europe must stop selling new petrol, diesel and conventional hybrid cars by 2028 in order to stand a better chance of honouring the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious target, according to a new study.

As cutting emissions out of transport gains in political and scientific importance, Diego Garcia Carvajal writes during European Mobility Week that the time is ripe to embrace electric cars on a grand scale.

The world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train service began operating in Germany on Sunday (16 September), while EU ministers debated the future potential of the clean fuel at an informal summit in Austria this week.

On the third anniversary of Dieselgate, the European Commission announced on Tuesday (18 September) that its anti-competition team is looking into BMW, Daimler and the VW group for allegedly limiting the roll-out of technology meant to clean up car emissions.