1. Commercial road transport sector
Transportation is the main source of pollution in France, accounting by itself for c. 32% of Greenhouse Gas (« GhG ») emissions
Further breakdown shows that commercial road transport represents c. 13% of GhG emissions, excluding VTC and taxis
Indeed, the average unit GhG emissions of heavy-commercial vehicles is nearly 5.5x higher than those of passenger cars, with light commercial vehicles emitting 22% more CO2 on average per kilometers than passenger cars
However, fleet operating companies possess both the financial means and centralized leadership to shift this dynamic by transitioning toward Electric Vehicles (« EV »)
With increase in commercial traffic, and new customer sensibilities, the commercial transport represents therefore a deep opportunity for decarbonization
2. French automotive market – a rapid shift towards EVs…
Depending on new regulations and market penetration, the # EVs in France is forecasted to increase 16 to 25x and represent nearly 20% of French vehicles by 2030
This trend is supported by growing public awareness on the necessity to decarbonize the transportation sector, and a dynamic offering from car manufacturers for whom EV is an integral part of their near-term commercial strategy
The deployment of electric Light Commercial Vehicle (“LCV”) in France is increasing very rapidly: the #electric LCV should thus increase 7 to 22x by 2030
This development follows the multiplication of Low Emission Zone (“LEZ”), and the ambition to ban thermic vehicles from city centers, with 22 cities in France having already adopted this restriction – by 2024 in Paris’ case
3. Creating a booming demand for the development of CPs
Adoption of EVs in Europe is conditioned to the deployment of extensive charging infrastructures. Therefore, with a greater amount of EVs in circulation, the number of charging hubs will increase 5 to 10x from 2020 to 2030
France has fallen behind on its objectives for 2021, with 55 000 CPs opened to public being deployed at the beginning of 2022, whereas the objective for 2021 was to reach 100 000 CPs deployed, the deployment of public CPs is thus expected to accelerate in the following years
Written by Vincent Croci