Brussels,  24  June  2010  –  The  European automobile manufacturers have

defined  joint specifications to connect electrically chargeable vehicles

to the electricity grid in a safe and user-friendly way.

The  industry recommendations will enable the relevant EU standardisation

bodies  to  make  rapid progress with defining a common interface between

the  electricity  infrastructure  and  vehicles  throughout  Europe.  The

recommendations also provide decisive guidance to public authorities that

are planning investments in public charging spots.

“This   is  an  important  step  towards  the  successful  deployment  of

electrically  chargeable  vehicles in Europe. A uniform and user-friendly

charging  infrastructure  is a prerequisite to build a market”, said Ivan

Hodac,   Secretary-General  of  ACEA,  the  automobile  industry’s  trade

association  in  Brussels.  “We want to avoid a situation where customers

have  to  carry  a  multitude of charging cables to use their vehicles in

different  cities, regions and countries, just as we see today with items

like mobile phones.”

The  European  specifications could form the basis for a global standard.

Japanese  and  South  Korean  manufacturers have been closely involved in

developing the joint industry recommendations for the European market.

The  joint  specifications  cover, in a first step, charging of passenger

cars  and  light commercial vehicles, both at home and at public charging

spots.  During  a transition period, customers will be enabled to use the

different  plugs  already  on  the market. A uniform solution will become

standard  for all new vehicle types by 2017. The auto industry expects to

make recommendations for quick charging and heavy-duty vehicles shortly.

About ACEA

The   European   automotive   industry   is   key  to  the  strength  and

competitiveness  of  Europe.  The ACEA members are BMW Group, DAF Trucks,

Daimler,  FIAT  Group, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Jaguar Land

Rover,  MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania,

Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen and Volvo. They provide direct employment

to more than 2.3 million people and indirectly support another 10 million

jobs.  Annually,  ACEA  members  invest over €26 billion in R&D, or 5% of

turnover.

Note to editors

Presently  various  field projects in relation to electrically chargeable

vehicles  are  in  place  across  Europe  and elsewhere in the world, and

broader   market  introduction  will  pick-up  in  2011  and  2012.  Most

stakeholders  assume a realistic market share for electrically chargeable

vehicles in the range of 3 to 10% of new sales by 2020 to 2025, depending

on how quickly the most immediate challenges can be addressed.

The internal combustion engine using conventional fuels will still be the

dominant source of power in the coming decades. That is why progress must

also   continue   to  increase  the  environmental  performance  of  more

conventional  propulsion  systems  as  well  as fuels, and the automotive

industry will sustain its efforts in this field. Government policies must

continue  to  include  these  CO2-efficient technologies and solutions in

their overall sustainable mobility policy approach.

Electrically chargeable vehicles include:

- Battery electric vehicles (BEV) with no other power source than the

battery

- Extended-range electric vehicles (EREV), which use battery as main

energy source for daily trips, but use a combustion engine driven

range-extender running on hydrocarbons to sustain the battery and to

overcome range limitations

- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), which use battery as main

energy source for daily trips, but run in common hybrid mode, with use of

the combustion engine running on hydrocarbons, after batteries are

depleted

For further information, please contact Sigrid de Vries, Director

Communications, ACEA   +32 2 738 73 45 or sv@acea.be

Please also visit www.acea

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