The brakes have gone on hard for sales in Britain's car showrooms. UK new car registrations fell -24.3% in June, according to the latest figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders with 140,958 new vehicles registered, the weakest June performance in 26 years. Volkswagen emerged top last month with 8.27% of share, Vauxhall reached 7.07% and just behind was Ford … [Read more...]
Fuel suppliers face penalty payment for climate clean up
Fuel companies might in future have to contribute a penalty for each litre they sell to motorists, says environmental group T&E. For a fair and just environmental transition, the EU should pass on part of the carbon price for cars and homes to fuel suppliers rather than European households. The EU can legally require fuel suppliers to absorb part of the EU’s forthcoming carbon levy for … [Read more...]
Clean air targets will not be achieved
Europe is expected to miss new clean air targets over the next few years. New T&E analysis finds that the emissions reduction trajectory proposed by the European Commission sets a far too generous emissions budget for 2021-2030. Weaknesses in the Regulation mean that, by 2030, emissions in the Effort Sharing Regulation sectors would not be cut by -40%, as envisaged by Fit for 55, but by a … [Read more...]
Greens see red on slow clean-up of vans
The European Union needs to dramatically toughen weak CO2 targets for commercial vans to spur a shift to electric models and phase out fossil-fuel sales entirely by 2035, said European campaign group Transport and Environment. T&E said an analysis of van sales in 2020 showed no change in CO2 emissions from 2017 and found the EU's CO2 targets are so weak that most manufacturers can meet them … [Read more...]
Hire days and holidays good to try EVs
Hiring an electric car on holiday is a good opportunity to try one out say almost a quarter (23%) of car hire drivers (25% men and 21% women). According to a new Opinium survey of 2000 UK holidaymakers, on behalf of iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading provider of car hire excess insurance, almost one in seven car hirers (14%) would choose to hire an electric car rather than a petrol or diesel car; … [Read more...]
EU risks undermining national low carbon drive
The -55% climate target announced last week makes the EU Green Deal the most ambitious climate initiative in the world, said green group Transport & Environment. But European Commission president Ursual von der Leyen risks undermining her own efforts with a plan that would undercut national action to cut pollution from cars and trucks added the pressure group. Emissions trading would be … [Read more...]
Newslines 8 July
Audi is ramping up its ev range with a coupe performance version of the Q4 e-tron. The Sportback will join the new comer next year when the range goes on sale in the UK. About 70,000 drivers a month search for when their MoT test is due, say comparethemarket. It’s the most searched term on their web portal, ahead of a price check on their model’s value and cost of car tax. Environmentalists … [Read more...]
EU adopts hydrogen strategy plan for future
Today, the college of European Commissioners will formally adopt its EU Hydrogen Strategy to help decarbonise the EU economy. This strategy will be launched together with its Strategy on Smart Sector Integration. The hydrogen strategy will outline concrete steps the EU can take to support all aspects of hydrogen production. The integration strategy will aim to better incorporate different … [Read more...]
SUV sales pushing up pollution, say environmentalists
Carbon pollution from new cars increased again last year, by 1.3% on average, according to the EU’s environmental watchdog, the EEA. Green group Transport & Environment said the repeated rise in car CO2 is due to manufacturers continuing to sell highly-polluting SUVs until the last possible moment before pushing cleaner models to comply with the 2020/21 climate target. The provisional data … [Read more...]
EC green energy plan risk to UK economy
Britain will miss opportunities for a greener and more econoically stable future as a result of the European Commission’s €750 billion euro package unveiled this week to put climate change at the heart of the bloc’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to critics. Billed as the world’s biggest “green” stimulus, it aims to tackle the economic slump, while fulfilling the Commission’s … [Read more...]