Cleaner Vehicles

Abstract

interoperable across borders, future-proof and backward-compatible. Additional opportunities to address congestion effectively can come from ensuring that user charging can be location-and time-specific.Include infrastructure for easy access to clean energy and digital connectivity of road transport in Covid-19 recovery packages Covid-19 recovery packages should support the roll-out of charging infrastructure and the strengthening of electricity transport networks. Electric vehicles will become increasingly cost-competitive and prevalent, and providing charging points aligns well with the post-pandemic focus on publically-funded infrastructure. Public investment is also vital for electric road systems and could support hydrogen refuelling solutions, provided that prospects for cost reductions and low-carbon production improve. Covid-19 recovery funds for connected transport infrastructure to enable smart road user charging, geo-fencing and other applications can also support a resilient transition to low-carbon vehicles and energy.Prepare for the impact of the sustainable mobility transition on jobs, required skill sets and social equity Governments need to strengthen their ability to assess the wider impacts of the concurrent shift towards electrification, renewable energy, digitalisation and automation. Improving their foresight capacity will also give them a better understanding of socio-economic consequences and, for instance, help to anticipate the impact on jobs and required skills. Developing policies and programmes for training and upskilling will be crucial to ensuring that affected workers are adequately supported and that the benefits of the transition to sustainable mobility are shared among all citizens. This is a vast challenge. Addressing it is likely to require significant budget allocations. Funding could come from tax reforms, such as the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and the introduction of a global minimum corporate income tax for multinational enterprises. Accelerate the development of other low-carbon technologiesTechnological progress for low-carbon technologies other than direct electrification is still in need of a boost to reach greater readiness levels. Accelerating progress for bringing low-carbon hydrogen, synthetic fuels and other forms of carbon-neutral fuels as well as some low-carbon sustainable biofuels to market can help to decarbonise legacy vehicles. They are also crucial to help cutting the carbon footprint of hardto-decarbonise transport modes such as aviation and shipping and may be necessary in cases that are most challenging to electrify in long-haul trucking. Support efforts should focus on the low-carbon technologies with the strongest sustainability impact and the highest potential to compete on cost with direct electrification. This support is important to mitigate asset and job stranding as well as geopolitical impacts on sectors like oil and gas that are particularly exposed to the shift to electrification and renewable ener...