“Europe on the move”: with electro-mobility, Europe can now move towards cleaner transport

Though the transport sector, representing a quarter of European greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), was absent from the Clean Energy Package, it is now coming on the front scene with the legislative package “Europe on the move”. In this context, UFE recently joined the Platform for Electro-Mobility, gathering European organisations from across civil society, industries, and transport modes.

Despite technological improvements, combustion engine vehicles remain responsible for atmospheric and noise pollution, especially in urban areas. The transport sector is indeed responsible for 23% of the European GHG emissions and 40% of the French emissions, asking us to review our modes of transport to protect our environment and our health.

Electric mobility in the 21st century energy transition

De facto, the electric mobility will renew in depth the car market. The decrease in battery costs and the increasing autonomy of electric vehicles are game-changers, making electric motorisation the technology of tomorrow’s transport. In France, Europe and across the world, electro-mobility is a strategic choice made by all car manufacturers. Thus, Volvo recently announced that all its car models will have an electric motor by 2019. In this context, the European Commission started the revision of its transport sector regulatory framework.

New challenges for the future of the electric system…

The development of electro-mobility in Europe brings forward a certain number of issues, notably in term of power generation, supply-demand balance or stability of the electric network. Moreover, a large and accessible pan-European network of charging stations has to be financed and developed, with important consequences on the electric grid.
UFE aims to meet the demand of both electric-vehicle users and other users of the electric system, while looking for an economic optimum. It is therefore to start thinking as of today about key questions such as the optimal repartition of the charging stations infrastructures or management solution for recharges.

… implying to be part of the electro-mobility discussion with all the stakeholders

Those considerations should be addressed in common with all the concerned stakeholders. Aware of the importance of such dialogue, UFE decided to join the European Platform for Electro-Mobility. This platform gathers transport sector companies (Alstom, Renault-Nissan, Tesla…), trade federations (ENTSO-E, Eurelectric, CER, UITP, Solar Power Europe, Wind Europe…) and non-governmental organisations (Bellona, Transport&Environment…).
UFE will thus work hand-in-hand with each member in order to define the best proposals to develop electro-mobility in the framework of the revision of the directive on clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles and the post-2020 standards on clean vehicles emissions, two legislative proposals that are expected by the end of 2017.