Meeting with BMW,
Ref. Ares(2021)5122703 - 16/08/2021
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
Commissioner Adina-Ioana Vălean
BMW Group
Meeting on CO2 standards and AFID
Date 30/06/2021
Brussels
Member of Cabinet responsible:
Member accompanying:
DG participant(s):
Meeting with
BMW Group
1/6
Meeting with BMW,
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
Scene Setter
You wil meet
BMW Group,
Affairs,
The delegation wil meet
and the cabinet of the President after your
meeting with them.
ACEA’s and BMW’s position
ACEA supports the transition to zero-emission mobility by 2050.
ACEA sees the availability of sufficient and adequate recharging/refuelling
infrastructure as the main barrier for the market uptake of zero-emission vehicles. They
call for an ambitious revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID) to
become a Regulation setting binding Member State targets, as well as of the Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).
ACEA calls for no change to the CO2 targets for passenger cars and vans that apply
until 2030 to provide sufficient lead time to adjust production. They are open to a
stricter CO2 target for 2030, provided that this is directly linked to the number of
available public charging points. Also for the target levels to be set beyond 2030 ACEA
calls for such conditionality with the number of charging points.
ACEA calls for targets remaining applicable for 5 years before being strengthened (in
line with the current approach).
According to BMW’s e-mobility strategy from 2019, BMW plans to sell 33% electric
vehicles (BEV and PHEV) in 2025 and 50% in 2030. BMW plans to offer 13 battery
electric vehicles by 2023. However, BMW also focuses largely on plug in hybrid
vehicles in particular [strategy that could potentially become threatened by very high
CO2 emission performance standards]. As such, BMW may not be supportive of
stricter targets [see background].
Agenda: Exchange of views on
- future
CO2 emission standards (current proposal at 60% in 2030 as leaked by
Politico and 100% by 2035 = end of combustion engine) and
-
AFID legislation (binding targets for electricity, hydrogen and LNG, depending
on the needs proposing fleet-based target and distance-based target;
outstanding issues: regulation/directive, minimum targets, LNG)
Objectives
• Highlight that the proposals under the Fit for 55% Package wil simultaneously tackle
stimulating innovation of zero-emission technologies (revision of the CO2 emission
standards), the deployment of the necessary recharging/refuelling infrastructure
(revision of the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive) and the further promotion of
decarbonised fuels (emission trading for road transport and revision of the
Renewable Energy Directive).
• Get feedback from BMW as to how higher CO2 fleet reductions expected under the
revised regulation on CO2 emission standards can be met by BMW, in particular
considering the high share of plug in hybrid vehicles.
Meeting with
BMW Group
2/6
Meeting with BMW,
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
Speaking Points
EUROPE’S CLIMATE AMBITION
• To deliver on the climate objectives the EU has commit ed to, the Commission is
working on a comprehensive policy framework to ensure a swift and sufficient
decrease in emissions from the transport sector and its road segment.
• Currently, we have around 2.1 mil ion electric and plug in hybrid vehicles on the
road. 260,000 publicly accessible recharging infrastructure are installed in the EU
with approx. 30,000 being fast rechargers. With an increase of 40.000 over the last
3-4 months, it’s going in the right direction, but we are far from the pace we need to
have to get to 1 mil ion recharging points by 2025.
• We also see an accelerated uptake of electric vehicles. In 2019 the share of electric
vehicles in total car sales was 3.3% but it has increased to more than 10% in 2020.
We expect this trend to continue, with more electric vehicle models coming into the
market.
• The Climate Target Plan outlines the amount of zero-emission vehicles we need to
have on the road by 2030 to be compliant with the 55% CO2 emission reaction
target by 2030. Depending on the scenario this could be up to 48 mil ion electric
cars and vans alone.
CO2 emission performance standards
• CO2 standards have proven to be a key driver to decarbonise the EU’s light-duty
vehicle fleet as seen from the spectacular surge in 2020 with the uptake of bat ery
electric and plug-in hybrid cars across Europe. To ensure that this trend continues
and that a clear pathway is set out towards zero-emission light-duty mobility, we will
propose to set a new ambitious target for the Regulation on CO2 standards for cars
and vans (as part of the Fit for 55% Package). But the question at what level?
• The impact assessment accompanying the revision has outlined different options of
CO2 target levels in light of the 2030 and 2050 climate objectives, and I am sure
you have heard or read in the news that the proposed target from DG CLIMA now
lies at 60% for 2030, which effectively would make only hybrid models applicable by
2030.
•
Would BMW be able to support and meet such a target? How long are the
production cycles to take into account?
•
What is your stance on the discussion of the end of the combustion engine?
•
How do you see the impact of such a potential phase out date on the global
car manufacturing markets. How would this impact the second hand car
markets share in lower income regions?
Revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID)
• I am very conscious that the deployment of infrastructure needs to keep pace. The
number of rechargers has been increasing by around 20% in 2020 and hence at a
much slower rate than the vehicle uptake. This is why with the AFID proposal we
must ensure that the roll out of infrastructure goes hand in hand with the vehicle
uptake. As a benchmark, the EGD and the SSMS set the objective of having 1
mil ion recharging points by 2025 and around 3 mil ion by 2030.
• With the revision of AFID, we wil be proposing clear and binding targets at Member
State level for electricity, hydrogen and LNG, and depending on the maturity of
each fuel and vehicle segment, we wil be proposing target based on the national
fleet sizes and distance-based target by 2025 and 2030.
Meeting with
BMW Group
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Meeting with BMW,
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
• These targets wil be dynamic in order to adapt to the local needs in terms of
normal, fast or ultrafast rechargers.
• More broadly speaking, these targets are meant to ensure a sufficient coverage of
recharging and refuelling infrastructure across Europe, for light and heavy duty
vehicles in line with the 2030 climate target plan ambition
• I want this proposal to be a market based proposal, supporting and incentivising
industry, all while boosting real market developments. We cannot deploy the
needed infrastructure without private actors support and investment.
• In addition, the revision with also focus on the following core aspects:
o Ensure technical interoperability, by further standardising physical
interfaces, e.g. for heavy duty vehicles, but also by addressing
communication protocols
o Improve the user experience by ensuring that users can find rechargers, be
informed about the prices before the charge and have easy payment
solutions available
Defensive Points
On the conditionality principle: How could you ensure that the CO2 targets are
linked to the infrastructure available, which is an essential condition for the
ramp-up of e-mobility?
• The spectacular surge of electric vehicles in 2020 has proven that ambitious CO2
targets are an effective way of ensuring the ramp-up of zero-emission vehicles.
Such targets send a clear signal to vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers, but
equally to those ready to invest in the necessary recharging and refuelling
infrastructure.
• Additional well-aligned targets as regards enabling measures, in particular on the
infrastructure side, wil strengthen this signal and facilitate reaching our objectives.
• However, introducing a conditionality between targets would bear the risk of blurring
the picture and weakening the investment signal on both sides. That is a high risk
strategy from any political or business perspective. It should be clear that we cannot
afford to wait for others to act. Instead, all stakeholders should take up their role and
move forward at the same time.
What is your view on a possible link between CO2 standards for vehicles and
fuels?
• The core objective of our policy regarding transport fuels is to reduce their
greenhouse gas intensity and we need to do so by the most effective means.
• Decarbonised fuels (e-fuels, hydrogen, advanced biofuels) need to be developed at
scale. We need to create lead markets for such fuels, in particular in sectors such
as aviation and maritime where other decarbonisation technologies are not
available. Specific policy instruments wil focus on this issue, in particular the
Renewable Energy Directive and initiatives for fuels used in aviation and maritime.
• Therefore, following the calls from stakeholders, the DGs wil careful y assess if and
how to account for the contribution of advanced biofuels and e-fuels when
assessing compliance of vehicle manufacturers with their CO2 targets. The Impact
Assessment wil analyse this issue and assess the associated costs and benefits.
Wil there be funding from the EU to support the roll-out of infrastructure?
Meeting with
BMW Group
4/6
Meeting with BMW,
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
A number of EU funding and financing instruments are available to support this roll out,
e.g. Connecting Europe Facility (CEF and CEF blending), European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF) and InvestEU. We also expect Member States to make use
of the recovery and resilience facility to massively support the roll out of infrastructure.
Background Notes
1.
BMW’s e-mobility Strategy
The BMW Group focuses increasingly on electric mobility. BMW’s eDrive technology,
can be flexibly integrated into different vehicle architectures. In this way, the BMW aims
to implement a “Power of Choice” approach that meets different customer demands
around the world. In 2020, the BMW X3 became the first model to offer a choice
between petrol and diesel engines, a plug-in hybrid system and, in the BMW iX3, a
pure electric drive train. The BMW Group has more than 600,000 vehicles with
electrified drive trains on roads around the world. Recent models with electrified drive
trains include the pure electric MINI Cooper SE, the BMW iX3, 17 plug-in hybrid
models, the BMW iX and BMW i4.
On 12 May 2021 (Annual General Meeting, Munich), the company announced the
following key milestones of decarbonising BMW vehicles portfolio:
• The company wil offer five fully-electric models by the end of 2021.
• Until 2025, BMW Group wil increase its sales of fully-electric models by an
average of well over 50 percent per year.
• Fully electric models to account for at least 50 percent of global deliveries by
2030. MINI brand to become fully electric by the early 2030s. This in line with
the medium ambition levels for the future review of the CO2 performance
standards for cars.
• Over the next ten years, BMW Group to release about ten mil ion fully-electric
vehicles onto the roads.
2.
BMW position on the revision of CO2 standards for cars and vans
• BMW is supportive of the objective to promote the uptake of zero-emission vehicles
as of 2030 (not before) and again despite its public scepticism, its announcements
correspond to the medium level ambition for the review of the CO2 performance
standards.
• They do, however, insist that the ambition level of targets should be dependent on
securing the necessary recharging/refuelling infrastructure.
• They support maintaining the incentive system for zero- and low-emission vehicles
both pre- and post-2030, with only zero-emission vehicles eligible post-2030.
• According to their reply to the open public consultation, they do not support the
introduction of a mechanism to account renewable and low-carbon fuels in the
compliance mechanism of manufacturers, and prefer to keep the legal instruments
regulating vehicle emissions and fuel decarbonisation separate.
• BMW highlights significant employment impacts of higher CO2 emission standards.
• BMW supports the extension of emissions trading to road transport.
Contact:
(DG MOVE ), tel.:
,
tel.:
Meeting with
BMW Group
5/6
Meeting with BMW,
Brussels, 30.06.2021, 14:00-15:00
Annex:
Meeting with
BMW Group
6/6