ACEA and E-Mobility Europe are urging the European Commission to make its upcoming Electrification Action Plan more practical for road transport. In an announcement dated 16 July 2026, the two organisations called for measures that would improve the economics of electric cars, vans, trucks and buses rather than relying on high-level targets alone.
The request comes as Europe’s electric-vehicle market is expanding unevenly. In their joint letter to the European Commission, ACEA and E-Mobility Europe say 950,521 battery-electric cars were registered in the European Union during the first five months of 2026, a 35.7% increase. They also say battery-electric cars represented more than one in five EU registrations over that period. The same letter points to a slower transition in heavy transport, where zero-emission vehicles accounted for 2.3% of new heavy-truck registrations in the first quarter.
Lowering the cost of electric transport
The first priority in the letter is electricity cost. ACEA and E-Mobility Europe want the Commission and member states to reduce electricity taxes and remove levies unrelated to electricity use. They also propose applying zero-percent VAT to key electrification technologies, including batteries, zero-emission vehicles and charging equipment.
That argument reflects a central issue for the next phase of EV adoption: the purchase price of a vehicle is only one part of the operating equation. Electricity costs affect private drivers, company-car fleets, depot operators and public-charging businesses. The organisations argue that more competitive electricity pricing would make zero-emission transport easier to operate and would improve the business case for further infrastructure investment.
A stronger case for smart and bidirectional charging
The letter places particular emphasis on smart and bidirectional charging. Bidirectional systems can allow an electric vehicle to send stored energy back to a building or the wider electricity system, but their wider rollout depends on compatible hardware, software, tariffs and grid rules.
ACEA and E-Mobility Europe are asking the Electrification Action Plan to remove double taxation of smart and bidirectional charging, establish a coordinated roadmap for communication and energy-transfer standards, and introduce market-based incentives for flexibility services. They also call for faster deployment of smart meters and time-of-use tariffs, alongside clearer rules for aggregators and energy suppliers.
These proposals are requests for policy action, not evidence that a single European charging system already exists. The letter identifies interoperability and certification as prerequisites for a broader rollout. That distinction matters for drivers and fleet operators: the potential value of vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home charging depends on local regulation and on whether the vehicle, charger and energy service can work together.
Heavy-duty charging remains a separate challenge
Passenger-car charging and truck charging face different operational constraints. Long-haul electric trucks require dependable charging at public sites and at depots, while operators must be able to plan around routes, loading schedules and vehicle utilisation. The joint letter therefore asks for a dedicated mechanism to reduce the financial risk of publicly accessible heavy-duty charging during the early market ramp-up.
It also proposes a dedicated depot-charging strategy. The suggested measures include faster permitting, identifying priority logistics areas, pre-cabling depots and updating insurance rules so that charging can be installed and operated more easily. These are administrative and infrastructure measures rather than vehicle features, but they directly affect how quickly commercial fleets can move from pilot projects to routine electric operations.
Grid investment is part of the transport plan
The two organisations also want the Commission to treat grid expansion as a core part of road-transport electrification. Their recommendations include faster approvals for strategic grid projects, clearer connection criteria, digital procedures and priority queues for sites that will support charging and battery storage.
The letter further calls for full implementation of existing European permitting rules and for fuel-neutral credit mechanisms under RED III. ACEA and E-Mobility Europe say those mechanisms should cover both public and private charging, including fleet depots, and should be implemented consistently across member states.
What happens next
The ACEA announcement records an industry position ahead of the European Commission’s planned Electrification Action Plan. It does not announce new EU legislation, funding or binding requirements, and it does not guarantee that the proposals will be adopted.
Its significance is that it sets out the implementation issues the automotive and mobility industries want addressed: electricity prices, charging access, bidirectional standards, heavy-duty infrastructure, grid connections and regulatory consistency. The effectiveness of the eventual plan will depend on which of these requests become concrete measures, how quickly they are implemented and whether they work across national markets. For now, the announcement is best understood as a formal policy call from two European mobility organisations, not as a change to the rules already in force.