The countdown will begin.
The deputies voted on first reading of the Climate and Resilience bill to end the sale of heavy goods vehicles and fossil fuel coaches from 2040. An amendment supported by the government and which should therefore, unless surprisingly, appear in the final text.
“We are the second country, after Norway, to vote this type of measure, enthuses Jean-Marc Zulesi, LREM deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône and rapporteur for the bill.
This is an incentive for manufacturers to accelerate the development of alternative energies to diesel.
Today is far too slow.
"
A lifespan of ten years
An invitation to spend the second while trucks are responsible for 21% of CO2 emissions from land vehicles in France, far behind the 54% of private cars.
“This is the only good news for the environment in this law, analysis, caustic, the NGO Greenpeace.
With this amendment, we align heavy goods vehicles on the calendar of individual combustion cars, which can no longer be sold after 2040. But that does not prohibit their circulation after that date.
"
Indeed, but with heavy goods vehicles whose average lifespan is about ten years, the legislator hopes to see the trucks achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. “The technology still needs to be there, warns Jean-Marc Rivéra, General Delegate of the Organization of European Road Transporters (OTRE).
It is nevertheless surprising to vote for a text without having the guarantee that we will have clean vehicles, from 7 t to 44 t, which cover all uses.
"
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Professionals are particularly concerned about the ability of manufacturers to produce 44 t, which, like diesels, can travel 600 km to 700 km per day, with reduced refueling time and at reasonable cost.
"Otherwise, we will be trampled by our foreign competitors who will buy thermal vehicles at home and use them at home, in France", worries Jean-Marc Rivéra.
Ranges running on hydrogen from 2025-2026
At Renault Trucks, we want to be more optimistic.
The French manufacturer, owned by the Volvo group, which accounts for 30% of the national heavy goods vehicle market, and 8.8% at European level, already offers all-electric ranges in the 16 t and 26 t segment.
“These are dumpsters and trucks for urban distribution,” explains Olivier Metzger, director of alternative energies at Renault Trucks.
At the start of 2024, a 100% electric range will be released for construction and longer-distance transport with a range of 400 to 500 km.
And in 2025-2026, we are moving to the hydrogen fuel cell stage ”.
A technological development which should allow road users to have an alternative energy vehicle with almost the same performance as a diesel.
But at what cost?
"It's true that an alternative energy vehicle is three to four times more expensive to buy," recognizes Olivier Metzger.
But if we take all the costs, and in particular that of fuel, it is only 10% to 15% more ”.
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If the drivers are perplexed, the coach operators, for their part, hope to finally see a little light at the end of the tunnel: "More and more municipalities are closing their city centers to us by installing low-emission zones, regrets Ingrid Mareschal, general delegate. of the National Federation of Passenger Transport (FNTV).
And, at the same time, we don't have any clean vehicles offer except Chinese.
By boosting manufacturers, the government is tackling the problem from the right end ”.
Criticism of the lack of an alternative to the road
"I know that some of my colleagues would have liked a more ambitious text, with a shorter timetable," says Jean-Marc Zulesi.
But it must also be accessible to manufacturers ”.
For its part, Greenpeace deplores the absence of an alternative to the road for the transport of goods.
"Yes, this amendment is a good signal, recognizes the association, but it is still terrible that this climate law does not propose anything to develop rail freight".
