S5 Ep26: Deep Focus: Europe's auto industry and the global electric vehicle revolution

Bruegel fellows Reinhilde Veugelers and Simone
Tagliapietra elaborate on the recent Policy Contribution they
co-authored on the European automotive industry in the light of
the global electric vehicle revolution.


Electrification is a key trend transforming the global automotive
industry, especially in the light of increased decarbonisation
efforts. The speed at which the technology is being developed and
the decreasing production costs make for a rather optimistic
prognosis for future global deployment of electric vehicles
(EVs). The automotive sector is undoubtedly an important one for
the EU economy, yet it has lagged behind in terms of both EV
manufacturing and deployment.


In this episode of Deep Focus, Sean Gibson interviews Reinhilde
Veugelers and Simone Tagliapietra, the co-authors of a recently
published Policy Contribution on the EU automotive industry and
the global EV revolution. European manufacturers have extensive
experience, robust R&D projects and a large internal market,
but can they make the switch to EVs sufficiently fast to remain
competitive? To answer that question, Reinhilde and Simone
outline the current picture of China's industry and point to the
lessons that can be learnt from their electrification success
story. While Europe cannot and should not adopt the centrally
planned policy measures, a more comprehensive policy framework
combining both demand- and supply-side instruments is necessary
to bring the industry back up to speed.


The research discussed in this episode is available in full in
the Bruegel Policy Contribution, "Is the European automotive
industry ready for the global electric vehicle revolution?", by
Gustav Fredriksson, Alexander Roth, Simone Tagliapietra and
Reinhilde Veugelers. For further reading, we recommend a blog
post on low carbon technology exports by Georg Zachmann and
Enrico Nano.