The UK and seven major companies have joined the EV30@30 campaign, which aims to speed up the deployment of electric vehicles and target at least 30 per cent new electric vehicle sales by 2030.

The expanded membership will strengthen the collective and coordinated approach to meeting the EV30@30 objectives. With the UK, the campaign now has the support of most of the largest EV markets worldwide. The existing members are Canada, China, Finland, France, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

The addition of companies active on the electric mobility front is also a milestone for the initiative, which was started last year by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). It represents a major step forward in the campaign’s multi-stakeholder approach and reflects the reality of the electric mobility transition that is taking place on the ground. The companies are: ChargePoint, Enel X, E.On, Fortum, Iberdrola, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and Vattenfall.

The EV30@30 campaign is organized by the CEM-Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), coordinated by the International Energy Agency. The campaign was launched during the 8th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8), held in Beijing in June 2017.

Since then, the EV30@30 campaign has succeeded in bringing together over thirty leading cities from twelve countries on the topic of urban electrification via the Pilot City Programme. This initiative acknowledges that cities are running at the forefront of the electric mobility transition and intends to demonstrate how local- and national-level cooperation brings about more successful and sensible policies.

The campaign’s target of 30 percent new electric vehicle sales by 2030 applies collectively to the CEM-EVI membership, and not to individual countries. Governments who endorse the goal show leadership by establishing policies to reach the target and engage through EVI to report progress and share best practices.

The EVI recognizes the importance of reducing carbon emissions in the transportation sector, which accounts for almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the fastest-growing energy end use sectors. It also recognizes the importance of working towards energy efficiency and the mitigation of air pollution from transportation.

These environmental, economic and social goals can be addressed through accelerated electrification of the transportation sector. In 2017, the global electric car stock reached more than 3 million vehicles, after growing exponentially for the last ten years, according to the latest Global EV Outlook report. In the report's EV30@30 scenario, where all countries together achieve the EV30@30 target on average, over 220 million electric vehicles (light-duty vehicles, buses and trucks) are deployed by 2030.

The campaign supports the market for 2-3 wheelers, electric passenger cars, light commercial vans, buses and trucks (including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle types). It also works towards the deployment of charging infrastructure to supply sufficient power to the vehicles deployed. Through EV deployment progress monitoring, analytical activities and policy recommendations, the EVI also aims at providing countries with informed material for the implementation of the most effective electric mobility policies possible.

The campaign also aims to foster cooperation among many stakeholders on electric mobility to exchange experiences and deliver quality capacity building to policy makers and other electric mobility stakeholders in EVI countries and beyond.

The CEM is a unique partnership of 25 key countries, including most of the G20 economies, representing 90 per cent of clean energy investment and working together to accelerate the global energy transition. CEM-EVI participants include Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the UK and the US. - TradeArabia News Service