All Down to the Fuel

Excerpt

We have failed. This may sound dramatic, but the truth is often hard to accept. While most sectors of the economy have made good progress toward achieving their climate targets, the transport sector is lagging behind. And so much has been done. Every individual engine component has been adjusted, modified, and improved and electrification is becoming more widespread, but CO₂ emission levels are still stagnating or in some cases even increasing slightly. On the one hand this is frustrating, but on the other it is a logical development, because we will now be forced to introduce vehicles with new electrified and fully electric powertrains into our fleets. It is important to note that we have to bypass the market at this point, because we do not have the time to wait for the natural replacement cycle. Electric vehicles are needed immediately and we must increase the production capacity. It seems as if we have to miss our targets the first time around in order to meet them on the second occasion. Because after they have been manufactured, at least in theory, BEVs do not produce any local CO₂ emissions. This is mistaken conclusion which both politicians and customers are happy to believe and which allows them to continue criticizing the industry that is to blame for all the problems. …