VI. Electrification drives low carbon land transport and puts the most sustainable modes first.
Electrifying transport with renewable sources is essential to decarbonise transport. With the right priorities, benefits go well beyond climate protection: electrification reduces local air and noise pollution; it opens up opportunities to replace and prevent the use of cars and vans with electric bikes and cargo-bikes; it can be powered with locally produced renewable electricity reducing energy dependency; it opens up new opportunities for local production and assembly for adapted vehicles.
As the electrification of different modes and for different uses varies in complexity and costs for society, segments with the highest CO2 reduction potential at the lowest cost are to be put first. These include electric bikes, 2- and 3-wheelers, commercial, corporate, and public fleets of high-mileage vehicles, urban delivery fleets, buses for public transport, as well as rail.
Heavy duty vehicles for specific applications are already available and their use must be made mandatory. The electrification of long-distance road freight that cannot be shifted to more sustainable modes must be incentivised and regulated with more ambition to set this segment onto a low-carbon pathway now.
