Pledge to accelerate transition to zero emission cars and vans

A group of ministers and industry leaders have committed to working towards 100% zero emission new car and van sales by 2040 or earlier at COP26. A total of 24 countries; six major vehicle manufacturers (GM, Ford, Mercedes, BYD, Volvo, JLR); 39 cities, states and regions; 28 fleets and 13 investors all jointly set out their determination for all new car and van sales to be zero emission by 2040 globally and 2035 in leading markets.

In this group, companies like Sainsbury’s and countries including El Salvador and New Zealand have made new commitments to 100% zero emission vehicles. They follow proposals made by the EU, Chile, Canada and a number of US states this year to ensure all new cars are zero emission by 2035. Also announced, a number of emerging markets and developing economies have committed to work to accelerate the adoption of zero emission vehicles in their markets, including India, Ghana, Kenya, Paraguay, Rwanda and Turkey.

However, Brussels-based green group Transport & Environment (T&E) is calling for the pledge to be ‘backed up with actual targets set down in law’, noting that ‘with China, the US, Germany and France absent, it will take more than a non-binding declaration to clean up the largest source of transport pollution’.

Meanwhile, the UK government claims to have become the first country in the world to commit to phasing out new, non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) weighing 26 tonnes and under by 2035, with all new HGVs sold in the UK to be zero emission by 2040.

The announcement came as new research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), commissioned by the UK COP Presidency and just published, shows the progress made in the passenger vehicle market:

• Some 31% of the global passenger vehicle market is now covered by vehicle manufacturer commitments to end sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, up from a near zero share of the market at the start of 2021.
• Global sales of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) have grown dramatically since 2019, from 2.1mn to 5.3mn.
• ZEVs are forecast to be 70% of all new car sales in 2040, with this projection having doubled in the last five years.
• Some 19% of 2020 passenger vehicles sales were in countries that now have an internal combustion engine (ICE) phase-out date, up from 5% in 2019.

In other road transport news, The UK government has unveiled a new design for electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints, which it says could become as iconic as the British red post box, London bus or black cab. Showcased in the UK Pavilion at COP26 and designed together with the Royal College of Art and PA Consulting, the concept ‘prioritises inclusivity and ease of use’.