11 October 2010

You are all probably ahead of me on this one but the penny has finally dropped on why the German carmakers, namely Daimler Smart and BMW Mini, are going phut, phut, phut to develop electric scooters. They are both showing electric scooter concepts at the Paris Motor Show.

Could it have something to do with Europe’s tough new C02 targets? In 2012, 65% of new car sales in Europe have to meet a fleet average of 130-grams of C02 per kilometre. An even stiffer target has been set for 2020 by when Europe will be looking for 95g/km.

To move from 130g/km to 95g/km by 2020 will require approximately a 6% improvement per annum. In the past five years the EU15 directive has produced a reduction in emissions of only 1.5% per annum. That tells us the enormity of the task faced by carmakers.

In order to meet that challenge, German carmakers are venturing off-piste to have their motorcycles and scooters included in their fleet averages. Hence the need for electric scooters.

The fines will be massive if those targets are missed. The fines are to be multiplied by the number of registrations; one euro for the first gram over target, 15 euros for the second gram, 25 euros for the third gram and 95 euros for four grams and above. From 2019 the premium will be 95 euros for every gram over target.

I’d say we are at the races.

Have a great week, both in and out of the showroom. If you have a story for us, email barry@auto-retail.com

Tags: CO2, Electric, Mini, Scooters, SMART