Phasing out fossil fuel vehicles by 2028 would save EU motorists €635bn, says Greenpeace 

Members of the European Parliament recently voted that all vehicles should be zero emissions by 2035.

Phasing out fossil fuel-powered vehicles seven years earlier than the EU has planned would save motorists €635bn on petrol and diesel, as well as the equivalent of a year's emissions from Russia, Greenpeace has claimed.

The German arm of the environmental organisation said it calculated the savings on petrol and diesel and even hybrid vehicles if the EU phased them out by 2028, instead of the planned 2035 target.

Earlier this month, members of the European Parliament voted that all vehicles should be zero emissions by 2035, while the European Commission last year stitched on the 2035 date as part of its Fit for 55 Package.

Fit for 55 is the EU's plan to reduce emissions by 55% by the end of this decade, and have zero net emissions by 2050. European environment ministers will next try to reach agreement on a phase-out of fossil-fuelled cars when they meet on June 28.

Irish targets

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Ireland, meanwhile, has pledged to tackle transport emissions by having one million electric vehicles (EV) on the road by 2030, but experts say such a target is currently unachievable without better incentives to attract consumers to buy them en masse.

Greenpeace Germany said that its calculations had found that a phase-out in 2028 would cut the EU’s demand for oil by an additional 540 million tonnes and greenhouse gas emissions by 1.7 gigatonnes of CO2 — the equivalent of a year's emissions from the world's largest country, Russia.

It would also lead to savings for EU consumers of €635bn in fuel costs, Greenpeace Germany added.

The body added that even a 2030 date and some additional measures by some progressive EU member states would still lead to additional oil savings of about 390 million tonnes and 1.2 gigatonnes of CO2, and cut EU customers’ fuel bills by an additional €460bn.

Almost two thirds of the oil in the EU is used for transport. About one in four cars in the EU is powered with Russian oil, and cars and vans alone account for 14.5% of EU CO2 emissions

"To bring the sector in line with the goal of the Paris climate agreement to limit global heating to 1.5°C and wean it off fossil fuels, the EU must entirely phase out the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2028 and boost sustainable mobility alternatives such as rail, public transport and active mobility like walking and cycling," the body's report said.

Greenhouse gas emissions from transport in the EU have risen by over 25% since 1990 and make up 30% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with vans and cars alone accounting for 14.5% of CO2 emissions, Greenpeace Germany said.

EVs in Ireland are gaining ground rapidly, but still remain far off the one million by 2030 trajectory. To the end of April, there were 8,009 electric vehicles registered, according to statistics released by the Department of Transport, compared to 9,886 for all of 2021.

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