E-cars as climate saviours?
There is great hope in electric cars: to remain mobile without harming the environment or the health of others. But can the electric car deliver what it promises? Scepticism is growing. Here is an overview.
There is great hope in electric cars: to remain mobile without harming the environment or the health of others. But can the electric car deliver what it promises? Scepticism is growing. Here is an overview.
The new Euro 7 standard will effectively ban combustion engines from 2025. A synthetic fuel that is climate-friendly and yet can be used for internal combustion engines is supposed to save the traditional engine. But production and costs are causing problems.
The truck industry criticises the EU's targets as too lax. They themselves want to put 200,000 zero-emission trucks on the roads by 2030 and are calling for tougher rules for diesel trucks. The targets are ambitious, but possible with the help of the EU, which is letting the industry down.
The new US president has announced a new era for American carmakers. He is fully committed to the conversion to e-cars. In contrast to the EU, however, he does not want to initiate this with driving bans for internal combustion engines, but rather promote e-cars through subsidies and incentives.
The city is getting 291 new buses. All of them run on diesel engines. This contradicts the promise of the Green Senator for the Environment to ban all internal combustion vehicles from the city by 2030.
The French bus and taxi lanes are to be opened to all electric motorbikes in future. The aim is to encourage more people to buy electric vehicles.
High subsidies for plug-in hybrids will soon only be available for vehicles that can drive at least 60 km in pure electric mode. This could mean an end to the hype surrounding these vehicles in Germany.
The city expects a significant increase in e-cars. But there is a lack of charging stations and models for the middle class.
The measure for better air, controversial in Germany, is becoming increasingly popular in France. Grenoble has had the country's first eco-lane since October. The lane in Lyon has been active since yesterday.
An eco-lane will be installed in the French metropolis before Christmas. It is intended to reduce traffic through carpooling and thus save more than 22,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.