Faced with the imperative of automobile decarbonization, Maria-Eugenia Sanin recommends placing emphasis on fiscal and social incentive measures for electric vehicles to motivate company fleet managers.
Are companies moving fast enough in decarbonizing their vehicle fleets?
To meet the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% in 2030, compared to 1990, and reach net zero in 2050, it is necessary that the reduction of CO emissions2 increases from a rate of 2.2% to 3.8% per year. We must therefore accelerate the greening of the vehicle fleet. However, this is only renewed at the rate of 5% per year, or twenty years to change it…
Purchases by companies, which represent more than half (52%) of the new home market, are strategic. We absolutely must aim, immediately, to purchase small electric cars. This is all the more important as these are the vehicles that we will find in a few years on the second-hand market. This will open up the possibility for households to purchase electric cars at an affordable price. Especially if we also subsidize the purchase of zero-emission cars on the secondary market, which I recommend.
You seem to rule out hybrid vehicles – which emit less. For what ?
If we leave this hybrid option open, some companies and employees will take it rather than going directly towards electric. That’s so many zero-emission cars that won’t hit the market. This slows down the transition. We will not achieve our goals by sticking to half measures.
To do this, we must focus on the speed of greening of the park, not just greening, and accelerate. Don’t forget that a vehicle you buy today will still be on the road in ten to fifteen years. The average age of the fleet in France is currently 10 years: a car purchased in 2023 will still be running in 2033, and perhaps beyond. We must therefore immediately move towards sober electricity.
How to convince employees who are hesitant to go electric? Today they want very high autonomy, therefore heavy and expensive cars…
You need to have two figures in mind: 55% of journeys are less than 5 kilometers, and only 1.2% are more than 80 kilometers. In some companies where you cannot use your company car for vacation, what is the point of having a range of 400 kilometers or more? If we allow employees to recharge their vehicles during the day, at work, we also guarantee them completely free mobility.
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