ELECTRIC ILLUSIONS Volvo Car Corporation has warned that EU targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions are being jeopardised by the absence of harmonised incentives to consumers.
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tefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, says that jobs, investment and competitiveness in the European car industry could be threatened by the European Commission’s approach towards vehicle electrification. “Volvo Car Corporation urges the EU to coordinate incentives whilst supporting research and development. The European automotive industry risks losing the present technological leadership if this doesn’t happen,” he said. “In the long-term, this jeopardises our industry’s competitiveness and European jobs.” Volvo Car Corporation has also raised concerns about the viability of the European Commission’s White Paper on Transport, 14 Industry Europe
which states that greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector will have to be cut by at least 60 per cent by 2050 to achieve the EU’s climate change goals. The paper also calls for the use of conventionally fuelled cars in cities to be halved by 2030 and then completely phased out by 2050. “European car manufacturers are facing a very difficult challenge when CO2 legislations requiring electrified cars are implemented without initiatives that make these cars affordable for a growing number of consumers,” said Stefan Jacoby. In 2011 fewer than 50,000 battery electric vehicles were sold in the world, equivalent to a market share of about 0.1 per cent. The figure suggests that the car market will continue
to be dominated by traditional combustionengine models for the foreseeable future. “It is far too early to dismiss the conventional diesel and petrol power trains. We continuously improve their efficiency. In the last two years Volvo has brought CO2 emissions from our diesel and petrol model ranges down by 13 per cent,” said Jacoby.
Unrealistic predictions Whilst there has been no official target set for the implementation of electrification within the EU, industry studies indicate that several member states are overestimating the speed at which electrified vehicles are being introduced. The European Commission’s own study, ‘A European Strategy on Clean and Energy
