EVs Could Cut EU Transport Energy Imports by a Quarter by 2040, Study Finds

Rapidly scaling up electric vehicles across the European Union could reduce the transport sector’s dependence on imported energy by roughly 25 percent within the next fifteen years, according to an assessment by Transport & Environment. The finding reframes electrification not just as a climate measure but as a concrete tool for economic resilience.

What sets EVs apart from liquid-fuel alternatives is a physical advantage: electric motors convert energy far more efficiently than combustion engines, meaning electrification actually shrinks the total amount of energy transport requires — something biofuels and synthetic fuels cannot replicate. That efficiency gain, combined with locally generated renewable electricity, positions the EU to decarbonise road transport largely on its own terms.

The analysis also argues for preserving scarce alternative fuels — green hydrogen, advanced biofuels — for sectors where direct electrification remains technically difficult, such as aviation and maritime shipping. Spreading these resources across road transport would dilute their impact where they are needed most.

Analysts point to CO₂ emission standards for new passenger cars as the linchpin of the strategy. Rolling back those targets, a pressure that has grown in recent years, would lock Europe into continued reliance on volatile global energy markets and push the bloc toward expensive imported fuel substitutes that carry their own supply risks. Maintaining current standards, by contrast, would steadily shrink the volumes of oil the region needs to import while expanding the role of domestically produced electricity in powering mobility.

Source: CleanTechnica