Why electrification of European passenger cars needs to speed up

Electrification of the car market is unavoidable. As a matter of fact, the change from carbon fuels to green energy should be fastened to meet all the new regulations. Last April, the European Parliament and all EU member states reached an agreement on a new European climate law, which stipulates that CO2 emissions throughout the EU must be reduced by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. The agreement also includes that full CO2 neutrality must be achieved by 2050.

With this new agreement, the target has been further refined. Initially, a target of 40% was set for 2030. The further tightening of the CO2 targets will immediately result in even greater steps have to be taken at a rapid pace. And the automotive sector has a leading role in necessary steps to reach the goals.

Transport is responsible for almost 30% of the total CO2 emissions within the European Union, of which 72% comes from road transport. Passenger cars account for more than 60% of the total CO2 emissions of European road transport.

In short, the electrification of passenger cars on European roads and therefore making them emission free can have a major impact on the way to 55% less CO2 emissions by 2030. In this context, it is quite remarkable that the European Union doesn’t seem to be in any hurry with the taking concrete measures.

We are therefore delighted to see that The Netherlands – where MG Motor Europe’s head office is located – is taking the lead in urging the European Commission by letter to ban the sale of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with an internal combustion engine throughout the European Union by 2030.

That is of course a radical decision and it takes a lot of effort to realize this. Especially in the field of charging infrastructure, a lot still needs to be done. Nevertheless, it is important that new cars with an internal combustion engine won’t be sold anymore by 2030. Because if we want to be completely CO2 neutral by 2050 and take the average lifespan of new cars into account, we have no choice but to phase out the combustion engine around 2030. It’s that simple.

In any case, we at MG are ready for whatever the future will bring us. At MG, we are already focused on electrified cars only. We are committed to making electric mobility accessible to European drivers. Our focus is to offer a wide range of smart, practical, safe and technologically advanced cars in different segments for different needs, with various new models that will be introduced in the coming years.