Will the electric vehicle get sick with COVID-19? by Victor Garcia

On 17 April 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a new Regulation on CO 2 emissions, with the aim of lowering the average emissions of the entire EU fleet of new vehicles from 130g to 95g of CO 2 / km, to be implemented gradually from 2020 following controversial German lobbying tactics.

The previous limit of 130 g CO 2 / km had been reached by the vast majority of manufacturers (many of them already close to 120 g CO 2 / km according to 2018 data), but the challenge of reducing them by 20% more was challenging.

It is no coincidence that in the last months of 2019, brands that had never been linked to "hybrid or electric", began to change their strategy and began to educate their customers through marketing campaigns in this regard: 

Until then, many manufacturers had disavowed electric technology (at least publicly) but had to assume that the only possible strategy to comply with the new restrictions was electrification of their range.

This was undoubtedly the goal of the legislator; increase the supply of electric vehicles through the introduction of stricter restrictions on emissions, not only to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, but also to ensure that the European automotive industry (which represents 7% of EU GDP) do not miss the innovation train for China, positioned as a leader in the electric vehicle sector.

Photo Robin Sommer

Due to the public health measures that the coronavirus pandemic has forced to take, automakers and their suppliers have temporarily closed their factories to ensure the health and safety of millions of workers.

In this sector, so relevant to job creation, manufacturers have great power to influence political decision-making and some of them have been quick to use the COVID-19 crisis to attack environmental regulations, suggesting a moratorium on regulations or the elimination of sanctions.

The coronavirus crisis has further exacerbated the negative trend in vehicle sales since the beginning of the year, which fell by 7,4% in the European Union compared to 2019.

But that shouldn't affect compliance with the standard, as what's relevant is the amount of emissions per vehicle sold, not the total number of units. In other words, a decline in car sales does not directly affect the average fleet emissions. 

Photo: Erik Mclean

However, this is not all bad news; Until February, electric vehicle registrations in Spain grew at a rate of 96% compared to the previous year, which seems to indicate that they should include, in the recovery policies that states will implement after the end of the crisis, those that are has focused on stimulating demand for this type of vehicle, thus helping to regain employment in the sector and also collaborating for a cleaner planet.

Despite the coronavirus, electric cars continue to respond to pressing concerns about pollution, global warming and new forms of mobility.

The electric car market has experienced record growth across Europe in recent years, including the first two months of 2020.

Whether demand for vehicles plummets or picks up quickly after the crisis will depend on how Europe and national governments manage the recovery, without the need to compromise emissions agreements.

Víctor García is Program Manager at Wallbox and has experience in the electronics and electromobility sector, working for companies such as Apple and Tesla. You can follow him on LinkedIn.