On March 28, European Union ministers finally approved the much-discussed plan to register only new passenger and light trucks with an internal combustion engine that run on climate-neutral fuel from 2035. However, as you know, discussions about this plan are still ongoing.
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The decision came to an impasse when German Transport Minister Volker Wissing rejected at the last minute a bill that would have banned the registration of new passenger vehicles with an internal combustion engine from 2035. In the end, politicians in Berlin and Brussels reached an agreement, but the compromise was viewed ambivalently by many.
In addition, doubts arose almost immediately about an even more important project – the deadline for the restriction on the sale of heavy trucks. Not only experts, but also manufacturers doubt that the transformation of the industry will be able to produce the desired effect.
The consequences are difficult to predict
Until now, an agreement had been reached that the ban on the sale of truck diesel would come into force from 2050. The manufacturers themselves were voluntarily ready to almost completely exclude fossil fuel engines from circulation even earlier – until 2040. But at the beginning of March, the debate about restrictions on light transport resurfaced and rocked the entire segment, which is responsible for most of the pollution. Transport specialists and truck manufacturers point out that the desire to achieve the planned climate change indicators should not conflict with realistically achievable goals and that the forced restriction of internal combustion engines alone will not bring the desired result – it will have difficult to predict consequences.
The current reality is that in order to achieve climate change goals, truck diesels would already have to be replaced by electric ones in such volumes that no manufacturer can meet.
“This level of transformation in the entire transport chain would significantly increase the costs, which would ultimately fall on the shoulders of consumers. In the current inflationary conditions, would they be willing to pay even more for the most important household products? Are European countries, which are already suffering from inflation, really ready to pour water to this mill? All of this is worth thinking about. And these are just some of the issues that are currently being discussed in the backroom of European politics,” says Ernests Jakubonis, sales and marketing manager of Iveco in the Baltic States.
According to him, a smooth transition to ecologically clean transport is hindered by infrastructure problems. In this area, even the issues of light transport are solved too slowly, but in the case of cargo transport – generally at a snail’s pace.
However, there is already light at the end of the tunnel. Commercial vehicle manufacturers are offering various solutions almost in unison so that the world can move consistently and, above all, rapidly towards more sustainable machines. Here we are talking about transport with combined power units. That is, different types of energy should be used when and where they provide the greatest benefit.
Different technologies for different needs
According to Ernests Jakuboņis, in order to create a successful system, all market participants and politicians need to agree on priorities and support measures that will allow faster transformation of car fleets in different countries. Pollution can already be reduced with various technologies: both with electric cars, with liquefied biogas or other sustainable fuel, and also with truck diesel, which meets modern pollution requirements.
“Electric trucks are already being used in regional transport – and this is already happening in more than one European country. At the moment, the segment with the most efficient and wide offer is light electric trucks. They are already being used for goods deliveries in cities and so-called last mile deliveries,” says Ernests.
As an example, he cites the “Iveco eDaily” cargo van, which can travel 300 km in the city without recharging – a distance that meets the daily needs of most couriers. At the same time, more and more regional carriers are choosing cars powered by liquefied biogas. Appropriate infrastructure is expanding rapidly on the Old Continent, and such transport can travel 1,600 km and even more without stopping.
“Biologically produced gas makes it possible to significantly limit harmful emissions. For example, the Iveco S-Way NP 460 truck, which runs on liquefied biomethane, emits up to 90 percent less carbon dioxide, 95 percent less solid particles and 85 percent less nitrogen dioxide than diesel,” says Ernests Jakubonis.
However, truck diesels complying with pollution standards are still used on longer routes. Both carriers and manufacturers are coming to terms with the growing demands and restrictions, but the latter are already expanding their offerings with future needs in mind.
“When talking about pollution, it is important to know the places of greatest concentration of it. These are cities. Therefore, in the future only electric transport will remain in cities, but long journeys will be dominated by another type of drive for a long time. This will be until new technologies are introduced and facilities are installed to meet the needs of adequate infrastructure also outside the cities. Therefore, it is most important to find a balance, without putting obstacles to any development option,” summarizes Ernest.
What he said is perfectly illustrated by the situation on the market, where “Iveco” offers commercial vehicles with all types of drive, but its partner “Nicola” has not written off hydrogen fuel technology either and continues to develop it. Other large market participants, including “Volvo Trucks” and “Scania”, do the same.
A bottleneck of solutions
Most heavy goods vehicles are currently powered by an internal combustion engine and use fossil fuels, but their greenhouse gas emissions account for a quarter of all road transport emissions. The transport sector currently uses a third of all energy consumed in Europe.
In February 2023, the ministers of 27 European Union member states failed to agree and did not give the green light to the ban on the sale of new passenger cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, although the European Parliament had previously approved it. As a result, hesitancy also began on the issue of the ban on the sale of trucks that use fossil fuels. However, on March 28, the ministers of the EU countries reached a compromise, and the countries of the bloc will be able to register new internal combustion machines even after 2035, as long as they use climate-neutral e-fuel.
True, it added fuel to the fire in the hybrid drive debate. Now the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) is calling on politicians to promote development in areas such as different types of e-fuels, low-carbon power plants and plug-in hybrids.
All these technologies have their advantages and disadvantages, so there is no doubt that there will be a lot of debate about all of them. However, from a business point of view, it is important to make decisions now, so manufacturers are already deciding on priorities and do not rule out any future scenario.
