Looming CO₂ fines electrify carmakers

European carmakers are working hard to improve low-emission technologies to avoid having to pay hefty fines after 2021, when the EU’s new CO₂ limits for cars take effect, report Jan Schwartz, Irene Preisinger, and Ilona Wissenbach for Reuters. Manufacturers run the risk of having to pay hundreds of millions of euros in fines should their fleets’ emissions exceed limits after 2021. As mass production of full electric cars remains slow, 48 Volt mild hybrids offer an affordable short-term alternative technology for reducing emissions, write the authors. Strong SUV sales over the past years have had a particularly bad influence on fleet CO₂ emissions, they write.

Read the article in German here.

For background, read the CLEW article EU car emission limits too weak for German climate targets – experts.