Ref. Ares(2020)3944962 - 27/07/2020
Meeting with
, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
Scene setter
You will meet Mr
, Board Member of the Volkswagen Brand
responsible for electro mobility.
Mr
wishes to discuss current and future initiatives at EU level to support
electrification of road transport, including the review of the Alternative Fuels
Infrastructure Directive.
It is likely that he wishes to raise specific points on infrastructure-related topics.
Defensive points have been structured according to some preliminary information
received from Volkswagen. A short summary of VW’s current initiatives is in the
background.
Objective(s)
Present current initiatives on electrification, in particular in relation to recharging
infrastructure (AFID revision) and funding (CEF)
Take note of Volkswagen’s electrification initiatives, and of their views in relation
to the necessary framework conditions for mass deployment of electric vehicles.
Explore VW’s views on other alternatives fuels, in particular hydrogen for heavy-
duty vehicles
Key Messages
We are working at full speed to prepare the launch of the new
Commission, under the leadership of the President-elect Ursula
von der Leyen and, as regards transport, Commissioner-designate
Adina Vălean.
Mrs von der Leyen has made it very clear in her political guidelines
the level of ambition she wants to pursue for our Union. Becoming
the world first climate neutral continent and having therefore a clear
path towards 2050 is a priority for our new term. Stronger ambition
level will however be required already by 2030.
President von der Leyen also asked Commissioner Vălean to put
forward a comprehensive strategy for sustainable and smart
mobility by the end of next year. The strategy will certainly look into
issues such as infrastructure needs for zero-emission mobility.
Overall, the European Green Deal Communication, soon to be
adopted, will set the scene for our action in all relevant sectors.
Even before we look into higher ambitions, however, we know that
the targets in the recently adopted CO2 emission performance
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, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
standards for light and heavy-duty vehicles will already require a
fast rollout of low- and zero-emission vehicles.
It is clear that transport electrification will be a key element in the
decarbonisation of our mobility; we need to work together to create
the right conditions for its development. This involves ensuring
good coverage of recharging infrastructure, and providing the
necessary financial support for its deployment.
While for passenger cars, battery electric seems to be most
popular solution, what are your views for other applications (heavy-
duty) – will there be a role for hydrogen?
AFID review
The Commission is currently reviewing the Directive on the
deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFID).
The main focus of the evaluation is to asses if the current
provisions are sufficient to ensure that adequate alternative fuels
infrastructure will be available throughout Europe to ensure
seamless travel across the whole EU, under specific consideration
of the expected massive uptake of electric vehicles in the next
years.
Specifically for e-mobility we will also assess if the provisions are
sufficient to ensure:
o A high level of interoperability, for example ensuring user
friendly payment options;
o That sufficient real time user information is available to
consumers, e.g. on location, characteristics (e.g. max. power)
and availability of charging points;
o That users are fully informed about the charging costs at a
charging point in a transparent manner;
o That e-mobility can efficiently be integrated into the electricity
system. Meaning that charging can be shifted to times when
electricity network capacities and electricity are available.
Depending on the outcome of the evaluation the Commission may
propose a revision of the Directive, possibly in early 2021.
It goes without saying that we are carefully looking at the possible
synergies with the revision of the TEN-T guidelines. We want to
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Meeting with
, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
provide a comprehensive transport infrastructure policy that is fit for
the future.
Is there any other particular issue that you would like to highlight in
relation to EVs?
Financial Support
We have already allocated EUR 698.3 million of CEF funding to
alternative fuel supply points, contributing to a total investment of
EUR 2.3 billion. Under CEF transport, we are supporting 89 actions
investing in greener road transport. These actions have installed or
will install almost 13,000 supply points for alternative fuel for road
transport, of which almost 12,000 are electricity.
Most recently, in November we launched the CEF Blending
Facility, an innovative approach and the first of its kind facility
under the EU budget. The deployment of alternative fuels is one of
the two areas we will support with the blending facility, with EUR 99
million available for this priority. It should leverage a strong
investment from the market.
Concerning the next financial period, earlier this year we reached a
Common Understanding between the Council and European
Parliament on the CEF programme for 2021-2027. The co-
legislators have retained the 60% target climate expenditure the
Commission had proposed for the CEF programme, and I expect
the climate expenditure in the transport sector to reach 70-80%.
A key focus of CEF 2021-2027 will remain on rail investment.
However, it is clear that EVs will also play a part in the
decarbonisation of the transport sector. Investments regarding
alternative fuels supply points will be eligible for a higher maximum
co-funding rate of 50%, compared to 20% in the current period. We
will also be able to support the deployment of alternative fuels
infrastructure on both the core and comprehensive TEN-T,
compared to only the core network in the current period.
As well as CEF, both the Cohesion Fund and the European
Regional Development Fund must dedicate significant amounts to
support modal shift and the deployment of alternative fuels in the
next period. The Sustainable Infrastructure Window of InvestEU
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, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
will also provide ample opportunities for the sector. The lending
and advisory support provided by the EIB will also be crucial to
achieve our goals.
This being said, EU public funding will be far from sufficient when it
comes to deploying all the necessary infrastructure. In fact, our
funding will also need to focus where there is real need for public
support, not where there is a business case already. It must be
private investments that deliver the bulk of the required EV
charging infrastructure.
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Defensive Points
Encouraging users to switch to electric vehicles will only happen if re-charging
is as convenient and easy as possible. Here aspects like plug and charge
(automatic authentication of users) or fixed cables to charging stations are
important. Currently many charging stations require that the user brings his
own cable. Does the Commission consider to address those comfort aspects
with the AFID revision?
Comfort for users is indeed essential for the uptake of electric vehicles.
The Commission will specifically look into user information and interoperability
throughout Europe. EV users must be able to easily find a charging point, get
informed about the prices and can easily charge and pay. We need a
European policy framework.
The Commission is equally supportive of other aspects like automatic
authentication – but the EV user should still be able to decide if and when he
wants to use this functionality.
We will look into these aspects during the evaluation of the Directive under
user friendliness aspects but also with respect to the associated costs.
Which measures does the Commission plan to implement to ensure that
electric mobility does not cause congestion in the electricity grid?
If all road transport was electrified, electricity demand in the EU would
increase by approximately 20%. While this will require grid extension in
certain areas (e.g. to supply bus depots) the electricity system can in general
cope with such an increase over the next decades.
However, this is only true if we manage to shift charging from peak hours to
times of low grid utilisation and sufficient electricity generation. So for example
to night hours or to sunny Sundays.
In addition, vehicles are on average parked for approx. 23 hours per day. If
they are connected to the grid while parked they can also provide electricity to
the grid during times of peak electricity demand and can therefore contribute
to manage the energy transition in an efficient manner.
What is needed for this is the right technology and electricity markets that
incentivise EV users to participate in such schemes.
The electricity market design adopted in spring this year ensures that such
schemes can develop and that the EV user can be incentivised to participate.
It equally sets the rules for making our electricity system more flexible.
We are working in close contact with our colleagues from DG ENER to see if
more actions are needed to ensure that possible remaining technical barriers
specifically for smart charging and vehicle to grid on the vehicle or charge
point side have to be removed. Here we may need action to further promote
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“smart chargers” – chargers that can measure and communicate and can be
controlled by electricity service providers.
In order to ensure seamless travel throughout Europe, it needs to be
guaranteed that all Member States have sufficient charging infrastructure and
that cross border travel is easily possible. Are there any plans to have an
integrated infrastructure planning for recharging points at EU level?
It is the aim of our initiatives to provide full coverage of charging infrastructure
throughout Europe, especially on the TEN-T core network and in urban nodes
Funding to develop this infrastructure is provided for example through the
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
Within the planned evaluation of TEN-T it could be considered to look into
minimum requirements for TEN-T networks with respect to the provision of
alternative fuel infrastructure. Also minimum coverage targets for alternative
fuel infrastructure could be considered under AFID. My services will look into
such options.
However, a central European cross border infrastructure planning for
alternative fuels infrastructure going beyond minimum requirements for
specific roads/corridors would need to be assessed also in the context of the
subsidiarity principle.
80% of charging events currently take place at home or at the office and hence
in private domains. However, many citizens do not own a private garage and
hence rely on charging either at a parking spot in their apartment building or at
the office. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) obliges pre-
cabling for new and renovated building to facilitate installations of recharging
points. However, this does not help users living in old apartment buildings. Will
the Commission aim at strengthening provisions to facilitate the installation of
charging points in the private domain?
Private recharging will most likely remain the backbone of charging in most EU
Member States.
The Commission is aware of the problems that owners of flats in apartment
blocks face when they want to install recharging points. Most notably the
required consensus from all other owners in the same building in most
Member States.
Our initiative under the EPBD was aimed at facilitating the installation of
recharging points in such buildings but was met with a lot of reluctance by
Member States who significantly reduced the initial Commission ambition.
The Commission will certainly continue to look into possibilities to facilitate
installation of recharging points in such buildings also under AFID.
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However, the main competence in this area lies with Member States and
regions. For example in Germany many cities and regions already financially
support the installation of private recharging points while for example in Spain
the “right to plug” already exists: a flat owner only has to inform the co-owners
that he wants to install a recharging point but does no longer need their
approval.
The accuracy of measurements of DC fast charging stations has been a
problematic issue in Germany as the German calibration law (Eichrecht)
needed to be adjusted to cover such charging points. Does the Commission
plan to streamline provisions for measurements at charging points?
European legislation sets detailed rules for the accuracy of for example petrol
pumps measurements and measurements of the DSO electricity meters.
However, it does currently not set such rules for measurements at recharging
points.
As part of the review of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive, we will
analyse if specific rules on European level are indeed required.
In the feedback to a recent stakeholder questionnaire under the Sustainable
Transport Forum we got mixed responses on this issue: while some
stakeholders claimed accurate measurements are essential to ensure user
confidence others argued that the price of many charging services is not fully
related to the charged kilowatt-hours (kWh) or is provided at a minimum fee
anyways. Strict rules and certification processes would only increase the costs
for charging stations and ultimately for the consumer.
What can be done to make the transition (automation, digitalisation,
decarbonisation) easier and to manage it?
We already have a number of EU instruments at our disposal. The question is
whether they are adapted to the need of our transport stakeholders, which we
hope our study will tell us.
With the
European Pillar of Social Rights, we already have a comprehensive
policy framework at EU level to assist in labour market and social transitions.
The
European Social Fund – and in the future the European Social Fund Plus –
invests in skills, including digital skills, and education.
The
Digital Single Market Strategy and the
Skills Agenda for Europe both
prioritise digital skills. For instance, the Skills Agenda has launched the so-called
Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills to address skills mismatch at sectoral
level. Two such cooperation partnerships related to transport and logistics are
already up and running: in the automotive sector (DRIVES project,
https://www.project-drives.eu) and in maritime shipping.
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, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
COM has proposed to double the funding for the new
Erasmus programme,
which will invest more in digital skills and forward-looking fields, such as climate
change, clean energy, AI and robotics.
The 2021-2027
Digital Europe programme will invest in five key digital sectors:
high performance computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and trust,
advanced digital skills, and ensuring the wide use and deployment of digital
technologies across the economy and society, in order to strengthen European
industrial technological leadership.
In addition, Ms von der Leyen wants to put forward a new
Just Transition Fund.
It should offer tailored support for the most affected, for instance those in
industrial, coal and energy-intensive regions undergoing significant local
transformations. There should be close coordination between the Just Transition
Fund, employment and social funds, as well as the InvestEU programme.
Which skills will be needed in the future and how can we make sure transport
workers will be equipped with the right skills?
This challenge is not transport specific and we have horizontal policies in place to
address skills gaps (see question above).
Given new technological developments, the transport sector is likely to compete
with other sectors for information and communication technology (ICT) specialists.
(It is true that older and low-skilled workers tend to lack the IT-skills that are
increasingly needed in the labour market).
In order to manage transformation, workers whose jobs are changing or may
disappear due to automation must have every opportunity to acquire the skills and
knowledge they need, to master new technology and to be supported during
labour market transitions. National schemes will be essential for providing up-
skilling and training with support from the European Social Fund and other
dedicated funds (e.g. the Digital Europe programme).
We will also need to find ways to adapt training requirements quickly enough to
match technological developments.
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, Board Member Volkswagen, 3 December 2019
Background
Volkswagen initiative for electric mobility
Volkswagen has started a comprehensive and massive investment programme into
electrification of its model portfolio. 75 electric and 60 plug-in hybrid models are to be
rolled out over the next ten years. The objective is now to sell 22 million electric
vehicles until 2028. For this purpose, VW is currently repurposing all their factories
towards the production of electric vehicles. The company has recently announced to
invest up to 60 billion EUR (or 40 percent of overall investment) into the “car of the
future” by 2024, including 33 billion EUR for electrification.
VW is relaunching a broad model offensive under the concept header “ID”. The first
main vehicle is the “ID.3” (successor to Golf), which will be launched in all 28
Member States in 2020. The Zwickau factory has been repurposed, with a production
volume of 100.000 ID3 in 2020 and up to 330.000 as of 2021. Available 30.000 pre-
orders have been overbooked.
VW is also investing 250 million EUR into roll out of infrastructure; VW wants to roll
out 36.000 charging points until 2025 including 11.000 at dealerships. VW is also
investing into a comprehensive customer service “we charge” for charging solutions
across networks – VW customers should have access to more than 100.000 charge
points. The company is now concluding additionally cooperation agreements with
retailers. Volkswagen is calling for a masterplan for recharging infrastructure to
address the manifold planning, permitting and technical realisation challenges related
to a mass roll out of recharging infrastructure.
Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (Directive 2014/94)
The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID) defines a common set of
measures, including minimum technological requirements for infrastructure (e.g.
recharging and refuelling plugs). Particularly, it requires Member States to develop
national policy frameworks. These should set targets and support measures for
infrastructure roll out for electricity and natural gas (optional for hydrogen). Directive
2014/94/EU on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure requires that
Member States provide a minimum infrastructure for alternative fuels such as
electricity, hydrogen and natural gas. Member States had to notify to the European
Commission their National Policy Frameworks (NPF) proposing national targets and
support. The completeness, coherence and ambition of the NPFs varies greatly.
As a consequence, the Commission in November 2017 adopted an Action Plan to
boost the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, with a particular focus on the
TEN-T Core Network Corridors through flagship actions, with an additional financing
component, under both CEF and NER300.
We have now started receiving Member States’ reports on the implementation of the
Directive, which we will assess in the coming monhts.
The Commission has also started the evaluation of the Directive, which is required for
2020. As part of this exercise, relevant stakeholders have been consulted through a
questionnaire, and the main findings will be published soon through the Sustainable
Transport Forum (STF).
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AFID - Standardisation of supply connectors / sockets outlets for buses
Work on the standardisation of solutions for electric bus supply connectors or socket
outlet is included in the standardisation work programme under Directive 2014/94
(Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive). CEN/CENELEC informed the Commission
of probable delays, but we still expect the work to be completed within the next year.
Defining standards for connectors (pantographs and catenary) will facilitate the
generation of economies of scale. It will also ensure that vehicles of different models
from different manufacturers can use the same infrastructure, and avoid situations
where changing buying vehicles from a different manufacturer would also require an
expensive update of the charging infrastructure.
Financial support
On 2 May the Commission adopted the next MFF proposal, setting out an ambitious
budget for the EU for the period 2021-27 amounting to €1.279 billion in commitments
(expressed in current prices) - equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27's GNI.
For transport investment, four complementary instruments were proposed:
Connecting Europe Facility (€30.6 billion for transport with general, cohesion
and military mobility envelopes)
InvestEU (€11.5 billion guarantee for sustainable infrastructure)
Cohesion policy funds (€35.3 billion for transport and environment in Cohesion
Fund as well as €226 billion for climate, energy, mobility, social and RDI in
ERDF)
Horizon Europe (€15 billion for mobility, energy, climate)
A common understanding on CEF 2021-2027 was reached by the co-legislators on 7
March 2019 in the final trilogue on the CEF 2021-2027. The provisional agreement
leaves aside at this stage all budgetary and certain horizontal provisions, pending
further progress on the MFF.
Automation in transport
Automation in transport is taking place in the context of a broader transformation of
the industry and the world of work. Ongoing discussions about the future of work, the
impact of the digital transformation on labour markets, and challenges and
opportunities of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ attest the need of analysing and
anticipating the upcoming changes.
The impact on the labour force in transport was recently discussed during the Digital
Transport Days (Helsinki, October 2019) in a dedicated session on 'Managing the
transition towards digitalisation and automation – social aspects'. The main
conclusion was that for managing the transition towards digitalisation and automation
in transport, learning from each other’s good practices and dialogue are key.
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/social/automation en
We have just kicked-off a study on the social dimension of this transition in transport,
focusing on the labour force. The study will explore transport stakeholders’ need for
guidance and accompanying measures. What we want to get out of it by the end of
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next year are recommendations on how to best accompany the transition and what
should be possible actions at EU level.
Contact:
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