What was striking, after an hour of debate and discussion, was that tailpipe emissions from cars count for very little in the race to net zero and total decarbonisation. The public’s efforts are concentrated right now on getting their heads round buying electrified cars, which is as it should be, but the tailpipe emissions of cars sold by automotive brands to the public count for little in the grand decarbonisation scheme of things. The two big areas that are crucial to long-term carbon reduction in the global automotive industry are the supply chain for OEMs and the manufacturing of batteries. These are two huge areas to control but without understanding the energy spent across the board, from manufacture to point of sale, it will be hard to develop green labelling that consumers can trust, in the manner of eco labels for white goods and homes, because the footprint of the end product will not have a transparent trail of environmental accountability. To then ensure that the labelling is standardised will be almost impossible.
To put it in perspective, and to quote Dr Thomas Becker from BMW Group’s board, if the group does nothing, by 2030 the CO2 emissions of its supply chain will exceed those of the cars it sells (that’s before the internal combustion-engine shut-off date).
Supply chains are tricky beasts. A wider choice of countries from which to extract raw materials is necessary, and manufacturers need to stop relying on high-carbon, poor countries and start looking to European markets to supply current and new materials. The energy used by vehicles within the supply chain is a crucial issue that needs addressing promptly. As for using more recycled, second-life parts, Dr Becker pointed out that right now, it would be possible to make a BMW entirely from secondary-use materials, but the issue is the hugely fluctuating price of new and used materials. Brands like BMW have to have mechanisms in place to track and monitor the markets to make sure they trade at exactly the right time to get the best cost per euro. All of which is time consuming and expensive.