Austria considers combustion ban for 2030

In Austria, only zero-emission passenger cars, two-wheelers, light commercial vehicles and heavier commercial vehicles are to be newly registered by 2030 at the latest. This is one of the ‘Mobility Master Plan 2030’ measures now presented by Infrastructure Minister Leonore Gewessler. However, the plan is not binding.

To achieve the goal of climate neutrality in Austria by 2040, 100 per cent of all new registrations in the transport sector for the above-mentioned vehicle types would have to be emission-free by 2030 at the latest, as the plan states. From 2032, all new bus registrations and 2035, all new registrations of commercial vehicles over 18 tonnes are to be emission-free.

With the ‘Mobility Master Plan 2030’, Austria would even beat the plans of the EU Commission. Last week the EU Commission presented its plans that from 2035, only new cars with CO2 emissions of zero grams per kilometre should be registered. The Austrian plan now says: “With a consistent further reduction of CO2 fleet limits at European level, an advance is possible.”

Presenting the plan, Minister Gewessler described the EU Commission’s targets as “good and important”. Austria already has a strong starting position in e-mobility, which is why it wants to move forward faster. She justified the earlier date.

More than 1,000 fast charging points are to be built along the motorways by 2030, and park-and-ride car parks are also to be equipped with charging stations to accompany the changeover to electromobility. “The future of the car is electrified,” says Gewessler.

However, Gewessler also emphasises that according to the ‘Mobility Master Plan 2030’, existing vehicles should not be replaced 1:1 by e-cars if possible. Instead, the share of “motorised individual transport” is reduced, for example, through expanded micromobility and public transport services. As a result, by 2040, public transport in the transport mix increases from currently 27 to 40 per cent. In addition, the share of journeys made under one’s own steam on foot or by bicycle is to increase from 23 to 35 per cent. “We want to show how we can work together to transform the transport system in a way that protects our climate and benefits people,” says Gewessler. Goods are also to be increasingly transported by rail.

However, the “Mobility Master Plan 2030” is not binding, but rather, according to Gewessler, a “map and compass” for the mobility turnaround. Concrete projects are to be derived from the proposals. “We now have a lot of work ahead of us to make it all concrete,” says the infrastructure minister from the Green Party. Currently, around 30 per cent of CO2 emissions in Austria still come from the transport sector. How the plans are to be financed is not yet known.

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