- The ban on cars with internal combustion engines could be delayed until 2040
- Manufacturers have opposed the legislation.
- More hybrid powertrains and range extenders likely to arrive
A report from German newspaper Bild this week claims that plans to impose a ban from 2035 on the sale of new internal combustion engine cars in the European Union have been shelved, as reported by PakGazette.
Manfred Weber – president of the EPP, the largest party in the European Parliament – reportedly declared that the plans were “off the table”, and that a more flexible emissions reduction setup would be introduced instead.
“For new registrations from 2035, a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions will now be mandatory for car manufacturers’ fleet targets, instead of 100%,” Weber told Bild.
There is still a vision to reduce CO2 emissions by 100%, but Weber claims this has been delayed until 2040. The move has apparently been taken to secure “tens of thousands of industrial jobs.”
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, the Stellantis Group and Renault argued in favor of removing the ban, arguing that decisions should be made by customers and not through legislation.
The original plan, which was approved in 2021, was to ban the sale of any new internal combustion engine vehicles, effectively forcing automakers to sell only purely electric vehicles by 2035.
However, many manufacturers have argued that the deadline is too tight and that customer demand for electric vehicles is simply not coming.
That’s why major players like Porsche and Ford have backed off from purely electric plans in recent months.
Porsche, for example, proposed that both the new Macan and Cayenne be fully electric, but then changed its mind and revealed that gasoline and hybrid vehicles would continue to be offered in the future.
The United Kingdom, although no longer part of the European Union, was among the first countries to propose a sales band for ICE cars in 2020, but has not yet declared what its plans are following Weber’s announcement.
Analysis: electric vehicles remain inevitable
While the timeline has potentially been pushed back by five years, there are still plans in place to reduce CO2 emissions by 90%, which remains a difficult goal for many manufacturers.
This means that anything with a combustion engine will likely become a plug-in hybrid or range-extending hybrid to comply with legislation.
It could also accelerate the use of advanced biofuels and e-fuels, as they can be certified as carbon neutral if manufactured using captured CO2 and renewable electricity.
The proposed easing of the deadline will give automakers more time to make what appears to be the inevitable shift to purely electric propulsion. In the meantime, they can still develop hybrid powertrains that are proving popular with customers due to their efficiency without the resulting range anxiety.
Regardless, over the next 15 years most major automakers will continue to pivot toward pure EVs to meet those 100% CO2 emissions reduction targets, while newcomers to pure EVs, particularly brands from China, will continue to have the competitive advantage.
Not only can they produce competitive electric vehicles at a lower price, but they also lack the historical legacy of manufacturing ICE powertrains and therefore the range and performance indicators that come with them.
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