How Scania wants to cut EU red tape to speed up electrification
By: Jenny Cato, Head of Public Affairs and Governmental Relations at Scania
Less bureaucracy and more enabling factors. Jennie Cato explains how Scania is pushing for the EU to speed up electrification of heavy transport.
Scania is sending a clear message to European Union policy-makers on transport electrification: cut the red tape and provide us with the enabling factors to drive the changes that our industry and our planet need.
Our message to policy-makers on electrification is clear: we are ready, and the vehicles are here. Scania already has urban electric trucks in serial production, and we will start delivering premium heavy-duty vehicles later this year.
EU regulation is crucial for electric sales
It’s clear that the trucks will not be the bottleneck in the transition. What’s needed is political leadership providing enabling factors and minimising restrictive regulations along the road.
Our call to action comes as Sweden continues its Presidency of the European Union through the first half of 2023, and acknowledges the importance of legislation, which can either smooth the way forward or slow things down. In short: EU regulation is crucial for our ability to reach our targets for climate emissions and electric sales.
The EU’s ambitious targets also are in line with our own. Provided that CO2 standards, Euro 7 and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) are set up well and function as a complete package, they will contribute to mitigating CO2, improving air quality and public health, as well as bolstering the competitiveness of the European automotive industry.
Here are the key enablers Scania is calling for
So, what are the key enabling factors that we are calling for?
We want to see a two-fold outcome from the ongoing policy work. First, to secure access to green electricity and charging infrastructure. Second, to establish price parity between electric and fossil-driven transport, using efficient carbon pricing measures including CO2-based road charges and implementation of an Emission Trading System for road transport.
When electric transportation is of a comparable cost to fossil-fuel transports, the choice to go electric becomes easy for everyone.
About the author
Jennie Cato is Head of Public Affairs and Governmental Relations at Scania. This blog post is an adaptation of a longer article published in Scania’s Newsroom. Jennie has 20 years of experience working across tech and engineering-driven environments, strategic business development, and climate, energy and sustainability policy roles oriented towards both Sweden and the EU.
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