TUM study finds EU automotive CO₂ regulation severely flawed
A comprehensive life-cycle assessment by TUM's CirculaTUM research network, presented September 1, 2026, reveals that the EU's tailpipe-only CO₂ measurement understates the climate impact of battery-electric vehicles. The researchers found that purely battery-electric vehicles reduce life-cycle emissions by an average of 41 percent compared to combustion vehicles, yet EU regulation counts them as 100 percent climate-neutral. According to the study, at the EU's current pace of electric-vehicle adoption, the passenger car sector would deliver only about 80 million tons of CO₂ reduction by 2030, falling more than 100 million tons short of the EU's own 188 million ton target. The TUM researchers propose a life-cycle-based standard that credits all verifiable contributions to reducing fossil emissions across production, use, and recycling.