In the EU project BatWoMan, researchers coordinated by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) are to develop and implement processes for CO2-neutral battery production in Europe. The goal is, among other things, to reduce the costs of cell production by around 60 per cent and to halve energy consumption.
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As part of the now successfully completed European cooperation project ‘Power2Power’, 43 partners from industry and research have jointly developed novel power semiconductors with higher power density and energy efficiency over the past three years. A follow-up project will start in January.
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Volkswagen expects to meet European emissions standards this year without relying on other companies to sell electric cars. In addition, VW has made changes to their CO2 pool in the EU.
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The European Parliament and the member states have reached a preliminary agreement on the revision of the EU regulations for batteries. The background to the regulation is the proposals presented by the EU Commission at the end of 2020 on mandatory sustainability criteria for batteries.
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The EU Commission has presented its proposals for the new Euro 7 emissions standard, which is to apply from 2025. For the first time, it also contains regulations that affect electric cars – for example on brake abrasion and also tyres that release microplastics.
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Teco 2030, Norway’s company specialising in fuel cell systems for ships, Shell and other partners want to retrofit a full-size tanker to run on hydrogen starting next year. The EU-funded HyEkoTank project is all about size and heavy loads.
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The Volkswagen Group has presented a new Green Finance Framework (GFF) that takes into account the EU taxonomy rules defining sustainability. In the new GFF, only investments for battery-electric vehicles that are EU taxonomy-compliant are taken into account.
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The EU states and the European Parliament have reached a political agreement on stricter CO2 emission standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, sealing the end for new cars with combustion engines from 2035. What impact the backdoor for e-fuels will have is currently unclear.
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The EU Parliament’s Transport Committee has presented its proposals for accelerating the expansion of the charging and H2 refuelling infrastructure. In some cases, the committee’s demands go beyond the plans of the EU Commission.
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EV charging infrastructure industry association ChargeUp Europe has appointed Lucie Mattera as its first Secretary General. “She is an accomplished EU policy and regulatory specialist,” said Mathieu Bonnet, President of the lobby organisation.
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The new EU project REEsilience focuses on the supply chain for rare-earth-based magnetic materials in Europe. These magnets are crucial in building wind turbines, sensors, and especially electric vehicles.
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Germany’s uncertain position on the phasing out of internal combustion vehicles (ICE) in the EU from 2035 appears to embolden other governments to make their own demands. If Germany abstains in the EU Council of Ministers, countries could succeed in watering down the incoming regulation on transport decarbonisation.
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The EU Parliament has cleared the way for the phasing out of internal combustion engines in new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles from 2035 as part of the EU climate package “Fit for 55”. The Parliament’s position for the negotiations with the EU Member States is thus clear.
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The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has voted in favour of the EU Commission’s proposed de facto ban on internal combustion engines from 2035 for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the European Union as part of the “Fit for 55” climate package.
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In Spanish city of Melilla in North Africa, Nissan has teamed up with energy company Enel for a project on the second-life use of electric car batteries. Old batteries from Nissan electric cars have been integrated into a stationary storage system to improve grid stability.
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The EU Parliament has now adopted its position on new regulations for batteries’ entire product life cycle. The new regulation means that negotiations with EU governments can begin.
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The EU is apparently planning to tighten the methodology for measuring the CO2 emissions of plug-in hybrids. The revised test procedure, which is expected to be enforced from around 2025, will incorporate real-world measured fuel consumption data.
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“Hyper powered vessel battery charging system” (HYPOBATT) is the title of a European pilot project that aims to advance the electrification of ferry shipping. The focus is on the necessary charging infrastructure in the ports. The goal is to develop a megawatt charging standard for ferries.
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There are signs of a possible further tightening of the EU targets for CO2 emissions from new cars. After the EU Commission had submitted its proposals for this in July 2021, it is now the EU Parliament’s turn – and it has apparently demanded stricter interim targets until 2035.
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Chinese premium electric brand Zeekr, which belongs to the Geely Group, plans to offer its first model in the EU from the beginning of 2023. By 2025, the brand wants to expand its range to seven models and export a total of 100,000 vehicles.
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With Nio, Xpeng and the Geely brand Lynk & Co, three more Chinese manufacturers have joined the Volkswagen Group’s open CO2 pool in the EU for 2021 and 2022 – despite Volkswagen’s assurances that it is compliant with the required fleet target values for 2021.
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The EU, the USA, China and other countries want to oblige carmakers to commit to a minimum durability of the batteries installed in their electric and hybrid cars. This was agreed in principle by the countries at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations in Geneva.
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The British think tank Influencemap found that the German auto industry is double-dealing when it comes to climate protection. While publicly supporting the Paris Agreement, such manufacturers also actively lobby against climate protection regulations.
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Volkswagen has taken a stake in energy investor EIT InnoEnergy and hopes that closer cooperation in future will lead to joint innovation and investment activities, which are to be driven primarily by the involvement of promising start-ups.
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Rivian has finally made its first electric pickup truck, the RT1 – that’s after the US EV start-up had twice postponed the start of deliveries. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, the first customer vehicle has now rolled off the production line.
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The Czech Republic has joined a growing number of countries and manufacturers that oppose the EU Commission’s climate package. The ‘Fit for 55’ plan effectively bans the sale of combustion engine cars in Europe from 2035 – an unwelcome move for some.
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The Italian government wants to obtain an exemption from the EU for domestic sports car manufacturers such as Ferrari and Lamborghini from 2035, as these cars are a niche market with small production numbers.
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Renault opposes the EU Commission’s Fit for 55 climate package, which will effectively ban new cars with combustion engines, including hybrids, in the EU from 2035.
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ACC, the Franco-German initiative comprising PSA, Opel and Saft, has received funding notifications from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMVi) and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate to start constructing a battery cell factory in Germany as part of the EU’s Battery IPCEI.
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US start-up Volta Charging is coming to Europe, starting with an office in Germany. The company offers initially free DC charging refinanced through advertising. Volta has yet to disclose its timeline for entering the EU market.
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