The EU Commission plans to allow company fleets- i.e. service and rental cars- only with electric drive from 2030. On closer inspection, what is sold as a contribution to climate protection turns out to be a politically motivated misconduct with high costs and considerable bureaucratic effort.
Jürgen Roth, entrepreneur and President of Efuel Alliance Austria, is disappointed with the discussion: “The EU Commission should not worsen earlier mistakes with new regulations, but correct them. Instead of keeping them open and enabling competition between technologies, the climate protection is used-and that under the guise of climate protection.”
The idea of a legal e-car compulsion contradicts the claim that industry has long been moving towards electromobility. Roth: “If that was actually the case, it would not require regulation to commit companies to certain vehicle types.”
A state -prescribed technology ban is not only economically questionable, but also climate -political short -sighted. “Cars that are not in demand to force on the market by law have not already worked for other projects. This weakens the location of Europe and leads to frustration among companies and consumers. We welcome the clear positioning of the Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer against the new proposals for regulation that would cause further damage to the auto industry and its suppliers.”
In addition, a new wave of bureaucracy threatens for all commercial fleets. Similar to the supply chain guideline or the sustainability reporting regime, companies would have to document which vehicles they can buy. This leads to legal uncertainty, administrative effort and additional costs and restraint when buying a new car – without added value for the climate.
Another point of criticism: the CO2 emissions are still only taken into account on the exhaust. That falls short. Roth warns: “The concentration on purely battery -electric drives ignores the potential of other climate -neutral technologies, in particular synthetic fuels. These electrocolor could make many millions of existing vehicles more climate -friendly – without compulsion and without high conversion costs.”
The practicality must also be taken into account. Holidaymakers with a rental car want to move without restrictions and do not adapt their travel destinations to the charging infrastructure. Rental companies should be able to choose their fleet according to economic aspects. The compatibility with environmental protection has already been secured several times by regulative.
Instead of issuing new regulations, the EU Commission should create technical framework conditions that enable innovations in all areas-for drives, fuels and infrastructure. “Europe’s economy now needs unleashing and no further gags. Why don’t we learn at least from our mistakes,” criticizes Jürgen Roth.
He demands a rethink in Brussels: “The Commission would do well to withdraw the proposal for e-car obligation for company fleets before it goes into the legal setting procedure. The economy has long been waiting for politics to have removed the self-created regulatory barriers and releases all the ways of climate protection”.