From corporate fleets to city streets

Large corporate fleets are still lagging in the shift to zero-emission mobility, and voluntary action has not delivered enough progress.

The EU’s Greening Corporate Fleets initiative is a chance to align fleet reform with city goals on climate, air quality and mobility. To succeed, it needs a binding EU regulation that sets consistent rules, ensures enforcement and provides certainty for operators.

Corporate fleets: the missing link in Europe’s decarbonisation

For more than a decade, the EU has provided the framework that allowed cities to act locally, from the Urban Mobility Package to the European Green Deal. Building on this, cities have implemented low- and zero-emission zones (LEZs/ZEZs) to cut emissions, reduce noise and improve air quality.

Cities are leading by example: they are greening their own fleets, deploying charging infrastructure or rolling out low- and zero-emission zones, Now, local leaders are urging companies to step up.

As Lars Strömgren, Stockholm’s Vice-Mayor for Transport and Urban Environment and Vice-Chair of Eurocities Mobility Forum, says, “It’s time for corporate fleets to catch up in Europe. Cities are setting the pace for decarbonisation. They’re creating LEZs and ZEZs, greening their own public fleets, and deploying charging infrastructure.”

In their daily operations, whether moving people or goods, corporate fleets, vehicles owned or leased by a business to conduct its operations, make a direct impact on urban streets. Company cars, leasing and rental operators, and truck fleets need to align with city objectives and accelerate decarbonisation. The impact can be significant. Urban logistics is a fast-growing source of emissions and congestion driven by e-commerce.

Last-mile deliveries, the very last step of the delivery process when a parcel is moved from a transportation hub to its final destination, are expected to rise by 60% by 2030, threatening to increase emissions and congestion unless fleets switch to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). This means including vans, light commercial vehicles and trucks in the EU’s decarbonisation agenda is essential.

With the right framework, corporate fleets can accelerate cities’ goals on reducing pollution, embedding cleaner commuting, and helping the EU reach its climate goals.

Cleaner cities, stronger markets

The influence of corporate fleets continues after their first use. The high turnover rates of corporate fleets mean they shape the second-hand electric vehicle market. For households and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), where upfront costs are a barrier, ex-corporate vehicles can be the gateway to affordable clean mobility. The more ZEVs enter circulation, the more affordable cleaner options become affordable for residents and businesses alike.

Clear requirements for large corporate fleets would expand this pipeline of affordable vehicles. To avoid leaving SMEs behind in the transition, targeted financing mechanisms encouraged by the EU could help SMEs operating in LEZs/ZEZs make the transition. And as cheaper ZEVs become available, public acceptance of clean air zones will rise.

To meet Europe’s climate goals and accelerate the shift to zero-emission mobility, cities cannot act alone. A robust EU framework is urgently needed to steer corporate fleets toward cleaner alternatives, align infrastructure investments, and ensure fairness across sectors.

Eurocities’ position paper outlines the need for the EU to adopt an EU Regulation for cleaning corporate fleets, set binding targets to secure the transition to zero-emission mobility, and revise the scope of the regulation to reflect urban realities and maintain policy coherence.

As Strömgren concludes, “If the EU is to keep on track for its sustainability and competitiveness goals, a robust EU regulation on corporate fleet decarbonisation isn’t optional. It’s essential.”

To read more about Eurocities’ position on the EU Greening Corporate Fleets initiative, find the paper here.

This story originally appeared on Eurocities.