Over the coming months, three cities from across Europe are each set to host a Clean Fleets national workshop designed to provide local authorities with practical insight into implementing the Clean Fleets Directive and to exchange and learn from each others’ experiences.

The workshops, which are taking place in Zagreb (Croatia), Valladolid (Spain) and London (UK) will cover a number of themes from: energy efficient and zero emissions fuels, clean vehicle technologies to implementing life cycle analysis in tender evaluations.

The first of these workshops will take place in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on 23 January 2015, and will focus on implementation of the Clean Vehicle Directive, drawing on the Life Cycle Costing tool and the Clean Vehicles Guide which have been produced as part of the Clean Fleets project.

The second workshop in Valladolid will be held on 30 January 2015 as part of the Alternative Fuel-type & Vehicle Congress and will include a video presentation on current initiatives in London including hydrogen buses, a new fleet of ULEV (capable) mini-buses for dial a ride, and a new Electric Vehicle fleet.

The third workshop will take place in the UK capital on 30 April 2015, hosted by Transport for London, who will share their expertise in the field of local air quality. As well as explaining their role in delivering the Mayors Air Quality Strategy, the workshop will take participants through their vehicle purchasing framework and their work introducing zero emission cars and vans.
All three workshops are open to public authorities and fleet operators in Europe, and other relevant stakeholders.

For more information, visit the Clean Fleets national workshops page.

The Netherlands has claimed the top spot in a new report that ranks Member States on their ‘green’ car taxation policies and average CO₂ emissions from new cars bought in 2013. 

Greece and Portugal occupy second and third place, respectively, in the report by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), an NGO that promotes sustainable transport in Europe.

The report, which monitors Member States’ progress in reducing CO₂ emissions and improving the fuel efficiency of cars, shows that the top six best performing countries all achieved more than a 5 per cent reduction in annual emissions of new cars.

In contrast a number of countries, including Sweden, Germany and Poland, achieved less than a 2.5 per cent improvement in average CO₂ emissions from 2012. Results vary dramatically between Member States.

According to T&E the principle responsibility to reduce CO₂ falls upon car makers – however it says that there is much that Member States can do to help progress through the policies that they adopt nationally.

‘While some countries have made conspicuous efforts to improve the fuel economy of their new cars, others have done very little to support the aims of the cars and CO₂ legislation,’ the report says.

To download the full report, visit the Transport & Environment website (link is external).

Source: Eltis 

The European Union's (EU) TEN-T Programme (link is external)has committed almost € 5m to the study and pilot installation of 200 electric vehicle charging points along France’s main motorways.

The three-phase project aims to contribute to the growth of connected charging infrastructure across Europe.

The first phase of the project will develop technological, environmental and end-user requirements for a connected fast charging network with the objective to promote rapid electric vehicle deployment in France.

The outcome of phase two will be a set of draft recommendations on connecting the pilot project with existing charging networks in France and neighbouring countries to determine the replicability of the network across other European locations.

The final phase will oversee the development and validation of innovative business models to support the advancement and implementation of the infrastructure. During this phase, data from the pilot project will be processed and measured against other European systems.

The project was selected for funding with the assistance of external experts under the TEN-T Annual Call 2013 (link is external), priority 'Decarbonisation/reduction of noise'.

For more information, visit the EC Transport and Mobility website (link is external).

Source: Eltis 

The European Commission's Directorate General for Mobility and Transport has published calls for tenders related to two EU transport web platforms. 

The first call is for the management, development and update of the Eltis web portal. Eltis facilitates the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences in the field of sustainable urban mobility in Europe.

It is aimed at individuals working in transport as well as in related disciplines, including urban and regional development, health, energy and environmental sciences.

The second is for the management of the European Alternative Fuels Observatory. The vision for the European Alternative Fuels Observatory is to create a reference point for information about alternative fuels in Europe, where all interested parties go to find data, information and best practice on battery electric, hybrid,  fuel cells, natural gas and other alternative fuels.

Submissions in relation to Eltis close on 13 March 2015 and will be opened by the EC at 10:00 on 20 March 2015.

Submissions in relation to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory close on 2 March 2015 and will be opened by the EC at 10:00 on 12 March 2015.

For more information, download the calls for tender via the EC Mobility and Transport website (link is external).

Source: Eltis 

Denmark has committed to increasing the number of fast electric vehicle charging points on its highways with 13 new sites installed in late 2014 and more planned for 2015.

The most recent installation of chargers is along the highway between Copenhagen and Aarhus, enabling long-distance travel in electric vehicles. Farø and Kildebjerg have also received new charging points on highways in both directions.

Transport Minister Magnus Heunicke said the new fast charging points are an important improvement in the use of private electric vehicles. He also referenced recent studies that acknowledge Danes would be more likely to use electric vehicles if recharging was easy and convenient.

Climate Minister Rasmus Petersen stated that switching to electric vehicles is now easier due to the addition of the charging points. He added that the 13 new points will help Danes travel across the country in a cleaner and more sustainable way.

The company in charge of the installation and maintenance, E.ON Denmark, will also be working with Swiss-based electric vehicle operator, CLEVER, in an EU-funded project to establish a route of charging points connecting Denmark with Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. As part of this project Denmark will gain points in Zealand and Funen, and along the North Jutland highway.

For more information, visit the TV 2/VFN website (link is external) (in Danish).

Source: Eltis