October 28, 2024
Sara Davies
Electric and Hybrid News
The popularity of electric vehicles has gained significant momentum recently. The UK’s charging infrastructure is growing rapidly and more and more businesses are seeing the financial and maintenance benefits of choosing electric vehicles for their fleet. So what has kickstarted the rapid increase in electric vehicles on our roads? This article explains a little more about the political, environmental and economic context behind the rise in electric vehicles, in particular the role the Paris Agreement and the ZEV mandates have played in the transition from ICE (diesel and petrol) vehicles to electric.
What Is the Paris Agreement?
Adopted by 196 Parties, the Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. It recognises that climate change is a global emergency that goes beyond national borders. A legally binding international treaty, it outlines emission reduction targets and monitoring frameworks for a ‘net zero’ emissions world, requiring international cooperation and coordinated solutions at all levels. The European auto industry supports the Paris Agreement and the EU’s 2050 transport decarbonisation targets and has invested billions in electrification to bring vehicles to market.
What Does Net Zero Mean?
The term describes the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that’s produced in the atmosphere and the amount that’s removed. Global temperature increase needs to be limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst climate change disasters that could occur. More than 140 countries, 9,000 companies, 1000 educational institutions, and over 600 financial institutions have set a net zero target pledging to take immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 by significantly strengthening their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
What Are NDCs?
An NDC is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts that each Party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish and update every five years. The UK Government also has an independent advisory body called the Climate Change Committee (CCC), set up prior to the Paris Agreement. This committee advises them on emissions targets and reports to Parliament annually on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as preparing for and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
As a result, the UK has two sets of climate goals: the statutory carbon budgets, set out for more than a decade in advance by the CCC and the UK’s target under the Paris Agreement (NDCs), which is pegged to emissions cuts by 2030. The CCC has played a key role in producing evidence and reports regarding the levels emissions from road transport must fall to, (essentially) zero, by mid-century, in order to achieve the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal. It has promoted rapid transition to a fully ZEV fleet by mid-century to fully decarbonise road transport, alongside other actions including increased public transport use, walking and cycling. The committee regards rapid transition to a ZEV fleet as one of the largest contributors to the global economy-wide emissions reductions required to deliver the Paris Agreement, given the scale of emissions. It recommended the introduction of the ZEV mandate as part of the Government’s net zero strategy.
What Is the ZEV Mandate?
The ZEV mandate requires car makers to sell an increasing proportion of zero-emission vehicles annually, starting in 2024 and hitting 80% of new cars (70% of new vans) in 2030 and 100% in 2035. Under the ZEV, 22% of new car sales and 10% of new van sales must be ZEVs this year. A ZEV is defined as having zero CO2 emissions at the tailpipe and a driving range of at least 100 miles on the WLTP test cycle. A battery warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles must be provided, and if the battery falls below 70% capacity in that time, a replacement must be offered. In its election manifesto, Labour committed to reinstating the 2030 ban on new ICE (petrol/diesel) car sales, which the previous government had pushed back to 2035.
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