Germany Ponders Plan to Cap Carbon Emissions from Cars

The German government is developing a plan that would require carmakers to cut hydrocarbon emissions 45% for cars and 54% for trucks by 2030, Bloomberg News reports.

The target is part of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Climate Protection Plan 2050, which aims to reduce the country’s overall carbon dioxide emissions 95% by that date. If the plan is approved, it will set a timetable for the auto industry to make a massive shift from traditional piston power to electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell alternatives.

Merkel has reiterated the government’s goal of putting 1 million electrified vehicles on the road by 2020 and 6 million in service by 2030. But it isn’t clear how those numbers will be achieved.

Germany currently has about 25,000 electrics and 130,000 plug-in hybrids in use, according to the government’s KBA motor vehicle authority. Those numbers compare with 14.5 million diesels and 30 million cars fueled with gasoline.

In May the country rolled out a long-debated incentive program for EV and plug-in hybrid buyers that includes tax breaks and one-time payments of as much as €4,000 ($5,000). Germany’s Environment Ministry predicts the initiative will result in 500,000 EV sales by 2020.