Germany reverses from 15 million fully electric vehicles goal to include hybrids
- Hybrid vehicles have been criticised by various environmental groups for being at least as damaging as their fossil-fuel equivalents.
While Germany's coalition government last November agreed to to target at least 15 million fully-electric passenger vehicles in 2030, the country's transport minister has now said that the goal includes hybrid vehicles as well. He reversed from the target of 15 million fully electric vehicles.
Volker Wissing of the liberal democratic party was speaking at a conference organised by Handelsblatt newspaper. He said, "We want electrically powered vehicles. Of course, hybrids also make a contribution to this." The minister also supports the use of synthetic fuels in powering combustion engines. The E-fuels are made by combining hydrogen with carbon dioxide extracted from the atmosphere, providing an environmentally-friendly means to power combustion engine cars.
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When the coalition government last year set a target of 15 million fully electric vehicles by 2030, it was a step up from the previous administration's goal of 14 million electrified vehicles by then, of which at least ten million were to be fully-electric.
While hybrid vehicles are seen by some as a transition product as governments and companies build the infrastructure for large-scale use of fully-electric cars, they have been criticised by various environmental groups for being at least as damaging as their fossil-fuel equivalents. This is because hybrid vehicles are not charged frequently and their weight is more, which means they use more fuel.
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As per German car authority KBA, around half of the just over one million electrified vehicles on German roads so far are hybrids, while the other half is fully-electric. "We agreed on a clear goal in the coalition agreement of at least 15 million fully-electric passenger vehicles by 2030," Green MP and transport policy expert Stefan Gelbhaar, told Reuters, adding it was crucial to reducing emissions. “I am confident that Transport Minister Volker Wissing will make clear and swift progress here," he said.
(with inputs from Reuters)