The massive arrival of electric cars on French roads will not be enough to achieve the objectives of decarbonization of the sector, warned Wednesday its leaders, recommending in particular a “change of use”, in other words a lesser recourse to the individual car.
The 37 million private vehicles and six million light commercial vehicles circulating on the territory are responsible for “21% of total national emissions” of CO2, recalled the Automotive Platform (PFA) in its “roadmap” on decarbonization submitted to the government. For the PFA, which represents manufacturers and equipment suppliers, sales of electric cars are set to “accelerate sharply” between now and the ban on new combustion engine cars in the EU in 2035: electric cars and plug-in hybrids are expected to “account for 50 and 20 percent of light vehicle sales in 2030 and 14 percent and 7 percent of the vehicle fleet, respectively,” which will result in “gains of around 23 percent” in CO2 emissions by that date.
However, according to the PFA, this trajectory remains conditional on the fact that companies, which buy half of all new vehicles, play the game of electrification, that the government continues to support the acquisition of such cars, particularly by low-income households, and that there are enough charging stations. But even if these 23% gains are achieved, they will still be far from the 40% underpinned by the national low-carbon strategy, concedes the PFA, which proposes “to act on other levers” based “mainly on the evolution of uses”.
Among the avenues mentioned: “reducing the number of kilometres travelled”, in particular “through car-sharing” or car-pooling, and shifting towards “soft and collective mobility”, such as cycling and public transport. The automotive industry also mentions, more traditionally for it, “better maintenance of vehicles in circulation”, and the track of fuels of non-fossil origin that can replace oil products.
Another reason why electric vehicles are not a miracle solution in the short term, despite the fact that electricity production in France is more carbon-free than in neighboring countries, is that they emit “on average twice as much CO2 in the manufacturing process” as internal combustion vehicles, recognizes the PFA, which recommends “relocating production”, particularly of batteries.
For their part, the representatives of the heavy vehicle sector (trucks, coaches, construction equipment, etc.) stressed, in their separate roadmap, that electrification concerned in the immediate future mainly “low-tonnage vehicles carrying out short-distance operations”, even though electric buses have made a major breakthrough, representing 37% of new registrations in 2022.
Already widespread, trucks running on natural gas (NGV, possibly made from biomethane) are “suitable for many uses immediately”, according to this document, while hydrogen, promising for long-distance transport, still suffers from “very high” vehicle prices. The report recommends public support for the purchase of vehicles to switch from diesel to these alternative energies, estimated at “200 to 300 million euros annually with a gradual increase over the next five years.
“While transport accounts for 30% of emissions, it is also the leading sector for solutions for the transition. The car cannot be an unthinkable part of this ambition. The State will be at the rendezvous to support the sectors of electric cars and heavy vehicles decarbonized, “promised the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clement Beaune.
