- The European Commission is looking at law proposals surrounding cleaner corporate vehicle fleets, as it looks to decarbonise road transport across the Union.
- While the European Union is still working towards a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, these proposals could further charge up EV sales in a region where 60% of new car sales go to fleets.
- According to calculations by environmental group Transport & Environment, these new proposals could help deliver 2 million EV sales specifically to European OEMs, by 2030.
EU looks to supercharge EV sales in the fleet sector
Transport & Environment’s report, which can be read in full here, has launched a new call for all EU firms with fleets larger than 100 cars to commit to only buying electric cars from 2030. It comes as the European dialogue continues, before European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, presents an automotive industry ‘action plan’ on the 5th of March.
While many EU states offer their own individual subsidies/tax incentives for fleet electric cars, bringing in these more stringent and bloc-wide green fleet laws could push growth further, and also be more favourable to European EV brands.
Foreign entrants such as BYD continue to gain a foothold across Europe, but it remains the case that European brands are more popular with fleets – with an average of 62% of their car sales going to fleets compared to 49% for non-European brands, according to Transport and Environment’s own calculations. Overall, such a policy would further align with the EU’s strategy of protecting and growing its home car industry.
Diesel car sales, which were once a popular choice for fleet cars across Europe, were outnumbered by electric car sales as an EU-wide figure in 2024 – a promising statistic for future electrification, but with this new push from T&E, there’s a clear opinion that it’s too soon for the EV industry to take its foot off the pedal yet.
With the European Union also considering the introduction of a bloc-wide EV purchase incentive scheme for the consumer sector, this combination of a boost in EV sales across both consumer and fleet buyers would create a positive picture across Europe’s automotive industry.
The knock-on positive effects on the EV industry
Setting such regulations would not only reduce firm’s carbon footprints and result in cleaner, less polluting air for EU citizens. Once these electric fleet vehicles come to the end of their business working life, they’ll hit the used market – and if the current used electric car market is anything to go by, this could translate into a wide number of used electric car bargains hitting the market. Transport & Environment calculations put this figure at 7 million used, ex-fleet EVs hitting the market, by 2035 – in a market where 8 out of 10 private buyers purchase their vehicle used.
The boost in EV sales such a policy would induce could also improve electrification in neighbouring, non-EU countries, such as the United Kingdom. With such a rise in sales, OEMs are likely to push harder and faster on a switch to EV within their portfolios – which would result in a wider range of new EV models available – including more affordable ones – across not only the EU but neighbouring countries also.
