Climate Group EV100+ pledge to decarbonise heavy trucking
The Climate Group introduces its new EV100+ initiative. Five mighty founding members, Ikea, Unilever, JSW Steel, Maersk and DPD, commit to zero-emission fleets – this time, however, the pledge will weigh heavier than earlier promises.
EV100+ is the pledge to decarbonise all commercial vehicles in their fleets over 7.5 tons, so the medium and heavy-duty segment targets emission-free fleets in OECD markets, China and India by 2040.
The Climate Group, as a non-profit, serves as an umbrella for the companies to come together in the pledge and communicate accordingly.
The new EV100+ complements the EV100 initiative founded by the Climate Group in 2017, in which more than 120 companies worldwide have joined forces with the commitment to convert their (lighter) fleets totalling over 5.5 million vehicles to e-vehicles by 2030.
The new initiative, however, aims for maximum impact. As the Climate Group reports, medium and heavy-duty vehicles, MHDVs for short, represent just 4% of all vehicles globally yet account for 40% of all road transport emissions and a third of total transport fuel use. These vehicles produced over 5% of total global CO2 emissions in 2019, predicted to increase to over 11% by 2050 if steps to decarbonise are not taken, so the Group.
EV100+ launched at the Climate Week NYC on Tuesday. Commenting on the initiative, Sandra Roling, Director of Transport at Climate Group, said: “MHDVs represent the final frontier of zero emission road transportation, and EV100+ will tackle the heaviest, most polluting vehicles across the world.”
Today we announce the launch our new initiative #EV100plus alongside @Unilever, @IKEA, @jswsteel, @Maersk @DPDgroup_news.
EV100+ will kickstart the transition to zero emission vehicles for MHDVs.
Building on #EV100, EV100+ will support businesses decarbonising their MHDVs.
— Climate Group (@ClimateGroup) September 20, 2022
The founding members have been working on decarbonisation for some time, and most operate towards their net-zero goals by 2040.
Ikea, for example, announced cooperating with Volvo Trucks in the electrified heavy-duty segment last month.
“We are joining EV100+ to magnify the movement toward sustainable transportation. It is urgent and doable,” said Elisabeth Munck of Rosenschöld, IKEA Supply Chain Operations Manager, today.
DPD has been making strides in various markets, first with smaller electric vans or as a partner to Futuricum, to name a few initiatives.
“Yet success (in decarbonisation) will depend on our ability to transition our medium- and heavy-goods vehicles to zero tailpipe emissions by 2040,” said Jean-Claude Sonet, Executive VP Marketing, Communication and Sustainability at GeoPost/DPDgroup. “We are excited to work alongside like-minded businesses to send a powerful message to both governments and manufacturers that we believe the future of trucking is zero emission.”
The Climate Group and EV100+ founding members have not specified how many MHDVs must become zero-emission since the fleet sizes are unclear.
Availability of substantial zero-emission trucks will remain another issue, but the segment has begun to move. The IAA Transportation in Hanover sees many options on display, from MAN, Volvo, Nikola, DAF and Daimler Trucks. Try our tag IAA Transportation 2022 to get an overview.
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