SUSTAINABILITY
Rethinking EV strategies: OEMs adapt to slow growth and regulatory pressure
Jörg Grohmann, Global Automotive OEM Manager, and Thomas Gillet, Heavy Duty OEM and Industry Liaison Europe Africa Middle East, Chevron Oronite
In recent years, the European Union has legislated aggressive targets for CO2
emission reductions to help
address climate change, affecting both passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles. By 2030, passenger car OEMs are required to reduce CO2
cars sold by an average of 55% relative to the 2019 baseline. By 2035, EU automakers can only sell new cars that emit zero CO2
– a 100% reduction from
the baseline, effectively a ban on fossil fuel-powered internal combustion engines (ICE). (An allowance will be made for cars running on CO2
a very small market niche.)
No such ICE ban is anticipated for heavy-duty trucks and buses, but the emission targets are similarly challenging. As of 2025, CO2
emissions for new
vehicles must be 15% lower than 2019 levels. That reduction target increases to 45% in 2030, 65% in 2035 and 90% in 2040. All new city buses must be zero-emission by 2035. The EU’s goal for the heavy-duty category is complete carbon neutrality by 2050.
Automotive OEMs have been working diligently to meet these goals, redesigning their petrol and diesel powered engines to dramatically reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency, while investing heavily in electrification and exploring the viability of
neutral e-fuels, likely emissions from new
alternative fuels such as hydrogen and other lower carbon fuels. Those efforts, however, have run into challenges: aggressive regulatory timelines, the lack of infrastructure for electrical charging and alternative fueling, and perhaps most significantly, slower- than-expected market acceptance of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). As a result, many OEMs are reducing their electrification targets and/or adjusting timelines and reevaluating their emission reduction strategies.
Passenger cars: Changing expectations Sales of zero CO2
emission passenger cars have been
climbing globally, although more slowly than previous forecasts and at different rates in different regions. Electric vehicle sales in Europe were up in January and February of 2025 – an average of 28% in EU countries and 42% in the UK – over the same period last year. China, with heavy government subsidies toward new energy vehicles, is leading the world in electrification. Plug-in hybrids and range-extender vehicles, which include fossil-fuelled battery charging engines, show a higher growth rate than BEVs in China. Japanese OEMs are investing in BEVs and promoting hybrid vehicles while continuing to develop ICE-powered cars.
For all this progress, however, ICEs and conventional powertrains still dominate the global car population
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.188 AUGUST 2025 37
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