Japanese automaker Mazda has teamed up with its joint venture with China’s Changan to pool carbon credits and help avoid carbon emissions fines, an EU document showed.
EU’s fines, which carmakers have said could total up to 15 billion euros ($17.5 billion) for the industry, were initially envisaged to apply to 2025 carbon emissions levels.
However, in March, the European Commission bowed to pressure from car manufacturers and allowed compliance based on their average emissions over 2025-2027.
What happens when Changan changes their mind? Or simply goes out of business due to fierce competition in China? Mazda can’t sell anymore in the EU?
What kind of bullshit accounting is this? They all need to be fined and a hard stop put to this practice.
The idea is to force car makers to sell more EVs. So the EU has put up fleet emission targets for car makers. They are currently so low, that you need to have zero emissions vehicles as part of the fleet, as hybrids do not cut it. However the EU allows for trading of credits, which allow car makers with lower fleet emissions to sell credits to car makers with higher emissions.
The key part is, that you can track EU EV sales fairly well, by running some math on how many EVs are needed to meet those fleet targets. So that law is actually working. The other part is the 2035 combustion engine phase out.
Nissan just did the same.
Carbon credits are a good concept
40 years ago I would agree. We need to move with far more urgency now.
I agree but industries cannot offset their carbon footprint quickly (e.g. airlines will take years to shift to SAF). The goal is not to bankrupt European companies due to them becoming uncompetitive.
How about actually offering electric vehicles? They have one electric vehicle. One! Out of >10 models.
I feel the same way but you have remember the auto industry acts as an auxiliary to the oil industry.
Makes a bit of sense, since their Mazda 6e is a rebadged changan, but compliance driven design obviously only makes automakers search for loopholes. It basically ends up creating even more waste, as manufacturers only create cars that are not meant to seriously compete in the market. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone but politicians, who trick the public into thinking they are addressing the carbon problem, while at the same time taking money from manufacturers. We need solutions that work, not temporary, pretend solutions.
