The cheap company cars in Germany have a particularly strong impact on the climate. However, they could also be a lever to reduce CO2 emissions in car traffic, as a study suggests.
Company cars are responsible for most of the CO2 emissions from new cars in Germany. Commercially used cars account for 76 percent of total emissions, according to a study by the environmental organization "Transport & Environment". If the fleet were to be electrified, the CO2 emissions of the entire car fleet could be reduced by around 30 percent.
The high proportion of greenhouse gas emissions from company cars and the great savings potential in this area is due on the one hand to the large number of vehicles. For years, commercial cars have accounted for around two-thirds of new registrations, also because company cars are particularly tax-privileged in Germany. In addition, the cars used for business travel twice as far a year as purely private vehicles. Last but not least, many large and highly motorized vehicles with correspondingly high consumption are represented among the classic prestige company cars. So far, only 5,5 percent are powered purely electrically.
Against this background, “Transport & Environment” advocates rapid electrification of the German company car fleet. This does not mean plug-in hybrids, however - they are only theoretically more climate-friendly, but in practice they usually emit no less CO2 than conventional cars because they are charged too seldom. In addition, according to the authors of the study, Germany should revise its taxation system and stop promoting environmentally harmful cars.