Marrakech, Morocco – Fourteen North American and European governments reaffirm their vision to strive to make all new passenger vehicles in their jurisdictions zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by no later than 2050. Achieving this will accelerate the global transition to ZEVs and could reduce transportation sector climate impacts by more than 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by 2050, lowering global vehicle emissions by about 40 percent.
The member governments of the International ZEV Alliance include Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom in Europe; California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States; and British Columbia and Québec in Canada. The International ZEV Alliance previously made the 2050 all-ZEV announcement during COP21 in Paris, France, to highlight ZEVs as a key strategy to solving the climate crisis and to encourage further investments in ZEV technologies. There are now approximately 2 million ZEVs in use today around the world, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicles, and the annual growth continues.
The ZEV Alliance governments have demonstrated how innovative consumer incentives, deployment of charging infrastructure, and regulatory policy help develop the early electric vehicle market. ZEV Alliance leaders reflected on these recent developments.
“As technology advances and the market for ZEVs continues to grow rapidly, California has adjusted its programs to make ZEVs more accessible to all consumers,” said Matt Rodriquez, California Secretary for Environmental Protection. “We welcome these developments and hope they encourage other governments to establish ambitious ZEV targets and policies to grow the market for electric-drive vehicles.”
“Zero-emission vehicle technology is entering the market at a rapid pace. These latest developments show how ambitious public policies and measures in favour of EV deployment, across many jurisdictions, can help grow the market and lower costs. Quebec is a great example of that reality. Thanks to our bold policies and sustained investments in the electric vehicles field, Quebec now boasts close to 50% of the Canadian EV market as well as a flourishing industrial base in transportation electrification, ” stated the Quebec Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, David Heurtel.
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) report, titled “Evolution of incentives to sustain the transition to a global electric vehicle fleet” was released today. The report’s analysis underscores the importance of incentive policies to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles through 2020 as next-generation electric vehicles enter the market with lower cost and greater electric vehicle range.
The paper is available at the ZEV Alliance website: http://zevalliance.org/evolution-incentives-electric-transition.
“More attractive lower-cost and higher-electric range vehicle models keep entering the market each year. With continued policy support, the market really opens up for mainstream consumers within the next five years,” said Nic Lutsey, who is one of the report’s co-authors who manages the ICCT’s role as the Secretariat to the ZEV Alliance. “Leading governments are showing how to keep growing the electric vehicle market with smart incentive policies.”
