The EU executive is also altering the 2030 emissions-reduction target for light-commercial vehicles, such as delivery vans, lowering it from a 50 percent reduction to 40 percent of 2021 levels.
Creating demand
The measure for greening corporate fleets — vehicles owned or leased by companies for business purposes — sets targets for what proportion of each EU country’s fleet should be zero- or low-emission, based on their GDP.
It is hoped the regulation will create a second-hand market for EVs to foster a “swifter transition away from older combustion engine” cars, and act as a demand mechanism to complement the 2035 law.
While the targets are binding, the Commission says it is giving discretion to the capitals on how the targets should be achieved. It anticipates most will incorporate favorable tax policies for companies, pointing to Belgium as an example, which has boosted its share of EVs on the road through tax breaks.
Under the proposal, plug-in hybrids, range extenders and combustion engine vehicles would all count toward the target but with the same caveats. Under the reform, all powertrains will be available as part of the 10 percent, but the Commission is mandating that automakers offset the emissions with made-in-EU green steel and alternative fuels.
Small and mid-sized companies will be exempt from the law, a Commission official said in a media briefing Tuesday ahead of the Parliament presentation.