Tag Archives: Regulatory

EU Proposes Ban of Gas- and Diesel-Powered Vehicle Sales by 2035

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The European Union put the final nail of the coffin for gas- and diesel-powered vehicle sales, proposing a complete ban starting in 2035.

BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said the Europe’s infrastructure isn’t equipped to handle tougher proposed emissions targets by the EU.

The move came as part of a much larger package of plans — dubbed “Fit for 55” — to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles on the continent by 55% between now and 2030. The current target is 37.5% by the end of the decade. The same push includes a 100% reduction by 2035. To be clear, these are proposals, not actual mandates — yet.

“This is the sort of ambition we’ve been waiting to see from the EU, where it’s been lacking in recent years,” Helen Clarkson, chief executive of the Climate Group, a non-profit group that works with business and government to tackle climate change, told Reuters.

“The science tells us we need to halve emissions by 2030, so for road transport it’s simple – get rid of the internal combustion engine.”

Unsurprisingly, ACEA, the European auto industry trade group, criticized the tougher proposals, saying the complete elimination of internal combustion-powered vehicles by 2035 was overkill. It noted that ACEA members support the push for carbon neutrality by 2050, but the proposed new standards essentially wipe out billions invested by automakers with that target in mind.

EU can want, but continent is not ready

Volkswagen AG Chairman Herbert Diess

Volkswagen AG Chairman Herbert Diess has helped lead the charge in the conversion to electric vehicles.

“Ambitious climate targets need a binding commitment from all parties involved. The European Commission today made very clear that the Green Deal can only be successful with mandatory targets for the ramp-up of charging and refueling infrastructure in all member states,” said Oliver Zipse, BMW CEO and ACEA president, in a statement.

The trade group noted the infrastructure is not — and will not — be in place to meet the new targets. Also, the demand for EVs doesn’t warrant a change in plans, Zipse noted.

“The current proposal for an even bigger cut in CO2 emissions by 2030 requires a massive further increase in market demand for electric vehicles in a short timeframe,” stated Zipse. “Without significantly increased efforts by all stakeholders – including member states and all involved sectors – the proposed target is simply not viable.”

Automakers have been announcing product plans focused on the shift toward electrified vehicles for several years. Much of those efforts center on the more lax targets, although some countries like Great Britain, Norway, Japan and Canada, have already implemented or are considering sales bans by 2035.

As a result, several automakers are already targeting earlier dates as the bogey for making a complete shift away. Volvo officials expect to be all electric by 2030, as does Bugatti. General Motors targets 2035 for its shift, but not all have done so, which is cause for alarm in some circles.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the charge for a 2030 sales ban of gas- and diesel-powered cars.

Forcing change

The pushback against the new targets was not a surprise for supporters, who accounted for that in the massive package of proposals. The group recommended legislation forcing EU countries to install public charging points on “major roads” in 37.3-mile intervals by 2025.

This, according to the Reuters report, would result in 3.5 million stations for light vehicles by 2030 with growth to 16.3 million by the time the mandate for carbon neutrality hits in 2050.

To ensure the shift happens by 2035, the proposals require an investment by the 27 countries in the bloc between $95 billion and $142 billion by 2040.

IHS Markit said in a report on Tuesday that if the EU raised its reduction targets to 50% by 2030, it would bring new fossil-fuel car sales across the bloc down basically zero, although overall registrations — which includes used vehicles — would still see ICE vehicles accounting for 48% of vehicles on the road.

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Highway Safety Advocates Claim Latest Transportation Legislation Too Lax

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Every five years, the U.S. Congress tackles issues regarding the regulation and safety of the nation’s roadways through the Surface Transportation Act — the latest version is woefully inadequate on multiple levels contends a group of politicians and safety advocates. 

The proposed Auto Safety & Surface Transportation Investment Act of 2021, introduced by Senate Commerce Committee fails to address critical areas and could roll back key regulations about the age and working hours of commercial truckers, according to safety advocates. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), safety advocates, and families affected by truck crashes, faulty child safety seats and child hot car deaths, said during a virtual press conference the proposed legislation to address long-standing issues around the death of children in hot cars with new alarms and the failure of car seats in rear-end crashes where an occupant is thrown forward and then back with new, inexpensive fixes is not acceptable. 

Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which pushes for tighter regulation, also said automatic emergency braking must become mandatory equipment on every vehicle sold in the United States. 

With the toll from road accidents rising — 39,000 deaths and 3 million injuries last year — the Surface Transportation Bill should require vehicles to be equipped proven crash avoidance technology that can detect and respond to pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable roads users with a date certain for compliance Clegg said. 

Improving truck safety critical

The trucking industry is working to stifle the requirements, while carmakers are looking to protect the business they have developed by “upselling” AEB technology as part of option packages rather than making it available on every vehicle they sell, she said. 

In addition, the trucking companies are pushing for longer hours and reducing the age requirement for commercial licenses to 18 from 21.  

Stephen Loesche, who works on regulatory issues for Teamster Union, said the effort to increase the hours of service and lower the age of drivers increase the risk to union members. Half of the union 1.4 million members are employed as drivers and driving a truck is already the most dangerous job in America.  

More than 5,000 people now die every year in car truck crashes, he said, and the younger truck drivers are six times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash. Meanwhile, the drivers of the delivery trucks do not even have to meet the physical requirements needed to quality for a Class 8 Commercial license, safety advocates note. 

Driver monitoring needed

Safety advocates want vehicles to be equipped with driver monitoring systems by a date certain to prevent automation complacency and curb leading crash causes including distracted, impaired and drowsy driving 

The new legislation also should require improvements to hood and bumper standards by a date certain to better protect bicyclists and pedestrians. 

Expand protections for issues associated with keyless ignition switches to address rollaways and curb carbon monoxide poisoning. The legislation also requires and update safety databases and an overdue update of the New Car Assessment to Program (NCAP) to adequately address the safety of VRUs. It also should prevent vehicles with unrepaired safety recalls from being sold, leased or loaned.

SEC Investigating VW Due to the “Voltswagen” Stunt

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Voltswagen

The “Voltswagen” April Fool’s Day prank has led to an investigation by the SEC.

What started out as a “humorous” advertising and marketing ploy could land German automaker Volkswagen in serious trouble with the federal government.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is apparently looking into VW’s “Voltswagen” marketing stunt to determine if it hurt company stock prices and may have broken any U.S. securities laws, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel.

The incident in question dates back to March 29. As a sort of early April Fool’s Day prank (and marketing ploy), VW “accidentally” released a rough draft of a press release declaring the company was going to change its name to “Voltswagen” as part of a larger effort to promote its ever-growing line-up of electric vehicles (EVs).

This action was picked up by the worldwide automotive press and on March 30 VW issued an official press release to several news outlets, including the Associated Press, confirming the leaked statement from the day before.

This action resulted in VW’s stock price going up. At one point it was 12.5% above its price before the whole incident.

SEC looking at jump in stock price

VW of America President Scott Keogh took responsibility for the poorly received April Fools’ prank that wasn’t on April 1.

This is what caught the attention of the SEC, taking what many considered a fairly unfunny publicity ruse to a possible federal offense.

After the April Fool’s stunt failed in the eyes of the media and the public, VW issued a press statement saying the releases were actually part of a larger tradition in which companies often issue prank statements.

This one just meant to also focus the world’s attention on VW’s growing EV portfolio.

But public statements that affect stock prices usually don’t get an “April Fools” immunity. An SEC investigation could result in charges against the company.

Several news organizations, including The New York Times and Reuters, have asked for a comment from VW. So far, the company has declined to issue one.

Just one of many VW legal scandals

This is not the first time VW has gotten into trouble for the way it conducts its business.

Oh those wacky Germans!! As quickly as it got here, VW took it away: Voltswagen is the company that never was.

In October 2015, as Volkswagen struggled to deal with its diesel emissions scandal, new data raised questions about whether the automaker properly reported death and injury claims to U.S. regulators during the past decade.

A study by the financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross Inc., found that Volkswagen of America reported nine times fewer deaths and injuries than the average of the 11 largest automakers operating in the U.S. market. Significantly, VW reported less than half as many incidents as either Fiat Chrysler or Honda, both of which have been fined for underreporting their own death and injury data.

Back in September 2015, the EPA accused the German maker of using a so-called “defeat devices,” software designed to fool government emissions tests, on a variety of luxury models from the Audi and Porsche brands. The feds charged VW took steps to cover up excess emissions on 482,000 vehicles sold in the U.S. during a 7-year period.

The end result was VW paying billions of dollars in fines to various governments around the world. The company also faced numerous consumer lawsuits that further cost the company money.


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BMW Does a Complete U-Turn on its EV Program

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The production version of the i4 Concept will reach the U.S. next year. It will use a shared platform.

A week before unveiling the all-new iNext battery-electric vehicle, BMW said it will “realign” its strategy and begin developing a unique architecture solely for “electric drives,” rather than sharing the same platform for vehicles using both battery and conventional gas and diesel powertrains.

That’s a complete about face for the Bavarian marque which, in recent years, had hoped to save money and simplify manufacturing by coming up with common architectures that could roll off the same line. But it also marks a return to BMW’s original strategy when electrified models like the all-electric i3 city car and plug-in hybrid i8 sports car used unique platforms.

“The aim is to create an overall optimum with the new architecture,” CEO Oliver Zipse said during BMW’s quarterly earnings presentation on Wednesday.

(BMW preps for i4 launch, confirms plans for all-electric 5-Series and X1.)

Over the past decade, the auto industry has gone back and forth on the appropriate approach to developing electrified vehicles, pure battery-electric models, in particular. Some, like the Ford Focus Electric and the Volkswagen e-Golf, shared common platforms with the gas and diesel versions of those vehicles. Others, such as the original BMW i models, as well as the new Ford Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.3, used unique architectures.

BMW says the production iNext should get nearly 400 miles of range per charge.

Each approach had both pluses and minuses. Shared platforms result in design compromises, often limiting the amount of batteries that could be stored on a vehicle – impacting range, among other things. But development costs can be held down, while increasing the flexibility of a company’s assembly lines.

Unique platforms, most adopting a skateboard-style layout with batteries and motors mounted below the load floor, can handle larger packs, increasing range and lowering a vehicle’s center of gravity. But that means additional development costs and the tooling up of plants dedicated solely to EVs.

With an upcoming wave of new products BMW had aimed for a compromise strategy. They use flexible platforms that can squeeze more batteries under the load floor for models like the all-electric i4 fastback due out next year. But there’s space for a conventional internal combustion engine for products such as the next BMW 4-Series.

Now, , “We will realign our vehicle architecture from the middle of the decade,” said Zipse, adding that, “Our new cluster architecture is geared towards electric drives” exclusively.

BMW’s i3 is one of the automaker’s best-selling electric vehicles. It uses a unique, rather than shared, platform.

“Our new plant in Hungary plays a key role here,” said the CEO, noting that production of “the new BEV-centered architecture will start there.”

(BMW and Mercedes suspend joint autonomous vehicle development program.)

The plan is to make the new strategy a high priority, an all-new product development operation reporting directly to Zipse. But it will be able to reach out to all other areas within the company, from engineering to sales and marketing which “gives us more control and makes us much faster,” he explained.

The shared platform strategy had come under intense scrutiny within BMW, noted German magazine Automobilwoche, Over the summer, Manfred Wochs, the head of the BMW Works Council, had warned that it resulted in “too many compromises” that could set BMW back competitively, especially in key markets like the U.S. and China.

BMW is racing to get a leg up in an emerging market segment that currently is dominated by the upstart Tesla – with an assortment of traditional competitors, as well as start-ups like Lucid, Fisker and Rivian, aiming to gain share.

But Zipse insisted that BMW will be ready when its new EVs hit market around 2025. “We anticipate that the demand for fully electric vehicles will continue to increase significantly from 2025 onwards. Exactly then – keyword timing – we will ignite phase III of our transformation.”

(BMW may go for a plug-in hybrid with upcoming X8 M.)

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