Europe

In a joint statement, French and German economists have called on governments to adopt “a common approach” to decarbonize European trucking fleets – and they’re calling for a focus on fully electric trucks, not hydrogen.

The European Union Commission has reportedly opened a preliminary probe investigating whether China provided unfair subsidies to support Chinese EV automaker BYD in establishing a new production facility in Hungary. This news comes one day after China delayed a decision on BYD’s planned production facility in Mexico, demonstrating growing trade tensions between countries worldwide.

German automaker Volkswagen has presented a world premiere of a new all-electric show car called the ID. EVERY1. This new entry-level Volkswagen BEV model will evolve into a production version soon and is expected to start at an MSRP of 20,000 euros ($21,500).

Europe will give €100 billion in short-term relief to clean-tech manufacturing in order to compete with China, as it unveiled today in its Clean Industrial Deal. The money comes at the same time as the US is actively seeking to harm its manufacturing sector and send jobs to China.

London-based Rho Motion just dropped the latest numbers on global EV sales for January 2025, and here’s the headline: 1.3 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide. That’s down by more than a third from December’s record-breaking numbers, but don’t let that fool you – January 2025 still saw an 18% jump compared to the same month last year.

Solar generated 11% of EU electricity in 2024, overtaking coal which fell below 10% for the first time, according to the European Electricity Review published today by think tank Ember.

EU gas generation declined for the fifth year in a row, and total fossil generation fell to a historic low.

Wind energy powered 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe (19% in the EU) in 2024, and the EU has set a goal to grow this share to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.

To stay on track, the EU needs to install 30 GW of new wind farms annually, but it only managed 13 GW in 2024 – 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. This is what’s holding the EU back from achieving its wind growth goals.

Chinese EV automaker Build Your Dreams (BYD) has unveiled its ATTO 2 compact SUV to the European public. The launch, which took place at the Brussels Motor Show, kicks off BYD’s next EV entry into European and UK markets. The BYD ATTO 2 is smaller and more affordable than its SUV siblings, with a decent range to boot, perfect for European roads.

Volkswagen announced a “Christmas miracle” with sweeping changes to its German operations but no immediate factory closures, layoffs, or wage cuts. Still, some 35,000 jobs are on the chopping block soon, but factories should remain open.

Commercial freight EV and autonomous driving developer Einride continues to expand its operations globally. Today, the company announced the launch of the first daily commercial operations of its proprietary autonomous trucks in Europe, delivering goods for a pharmacy e-retailer.

European automakers are reducing prices on EVs while raising prices on their ICE models, all in hopes of avoiding hefty fines as the European Union’s new emissions rules tighten at the beginning of 2025.

Three months after ZEEKR launched its new 7X SUX in China, the EV automaker has opened up sales in select markets in Europe, its third model in the region. The ZEEKR 7X will start below 53,000 Euros, and early European customers can take advantage of free upgrade packages.

As the European Union slaps more restrictive tariffs on EVs pouring in from China, Chinese automakers have found a workaround: they’ll just make and export hybrids instead, since hybrids of all varieties are bizarrely exempt from the tariff scheme.

Advanced air mobility (AAM) operator UrbanLink continues to make big moves in establishing a fleet of eVTOL aircraft for air taxi and other aerial mobility applications. Most recently, the company signed a new partnership with CRISALION Mobility out of Spain, committing to purchase 20 of the latter’s Integrity eVTOL aircraft as UrbanLink expands beyond its native state of Florida and overseas to at least two markets in Europe.

The European Commission is throwing a lifeline to its emerging EV battery sector with a hefty boost of €1 billion ($1,05b). But companies relying on Chinese materials are likely to be cut out. Question is, is it too late to save Northvolt?

Despite tariffs on imported Chinese EVs in place in Europe, BYD is making good on its vow to continue its global expansion and is showing no signs of deterrence. The Chinese automaker recently put its second BYD-branded ship, “Changzhou,” into operation to export thousands more new energy vehicles (NEVs) to Europe.

Donald Trump wins a second presidential term, and BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse came out with some quick remarks – amid what is likely panic among European automakers – that BMW will be fine because of its “very, very large footprint in the US.” Meanwhile, BMW’s profit margins hit a four-year low.  

China has reportedly already told its major automakers to hold off investments in EU countries that supported Europe’s new EV tariffs, according to Reuters.

As Europe pushes to phase out fossil fuels, a new study finds that, ironically, the EU’s five biggest members are pouring billions of dollars a year into subsidizing ICE company cars – to the tune of $42 billion ($45.60 billion) a year.

According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 300,000 people die each year from respiratory illness caused by poor air quality, with millions more falling ill. Now, European citizens might be able to claim compensation for health problems caused by 
failure to comply with pollution limits.

Europe’s “green dream” Northvolt is fighting to keep afloat. The Swedish-owned battery maker is now hoping a fresh injection of millions of dollars from its cofounder will generate a rescue package from other investors and keep the lights on.