Alliance against car emissions (and fines) is born

Stellantis, Toyota and Ford join Tesla to form an anti-CO2 pool to avoid EU sanctions

Photo by: Tesla

By: Gianmarco Gori

Jan 8, 2025 at 3:50am ET

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"Unity is strength' - a phrase that has become so dear to car manufacturers that some have decided to take it literally. In fact, a 'pool' on CO2 emissions against EU fines has been created.

It was founded by Stellantis, Toyota, Ford, Subaru and Mazda, who joined Tesla in the agreement, which is a key step to meet the strict targets that will come into force at the beginning of 2025 and avoid sanctions. The alliance is led by Tesla, which will act as manager of the 'pool'.

The declaration of intent signed by the various car manufacturers participating in the new emissions 'pool' was published on 6 January by the European Commission and confirms the key role of the US manufacturer. But what does this mean exactly?

The 2025 challenge

In terms of the new regulations to be met, the ultimate goal of the Alliance is to bring all participating companies into compliance with the new European regulations, which require a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 15% by 2025 compared to 2021-2024 (from 115.1g CO2/km to 93.6g CO2/km).

Mazda EZ-6

This means that manufacturers will have to ensure that at least 20% of their sales will be 100% electric cars: a very ambitious result at present, considering that the European zero-emission car market is currently stagnant, with 2024 closing with a 14% share of total sales on the entire continent.

The reasons for creating a new electric car alliance with a very experienced leader - Tesla - are clear: failure to meet the targets we have just discussed would result in significant fines for individual manufacturers, at €95 per gram of CO2 over the limit for each car sold, with total fines that ACEA estimates could exceed €15 billion.

Considering that Tesla only sells zero-emission cars and that the pool allows manufacturers to count emissions cumulatively, the final balance should fall below the 93.6 g CO₂/km threshold.

STLA Large, the Stellantis electric car platform

An established strategy

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This is not the first time that a number of manufacturers have joined forces to form an anti-penalty 'pool' as something similar happened in 2020-2021. According to experts at Automotive News Europe, this strategy is motivated by the fact that the sale of an electric vehicle can currently only offset the emissions of three or four conventional cars, making pools a crucial tool for avoiding penalties.

The new Tesla-led Alliance, in particular, represents the first major agreement for 2025 and, according to the European Commission, will remain 'open' to accept new members until 5 February.