The German blockage has finally been lifted and the European Union has validated the end of combustion engines in new cars from 2035. This central measure of the 27’s climate plan will force new cars to emit no more CO2, thus banning gasoline, diesel and hybrid vehicles in favor of all-electric. This decision is in line with theEuropean objective of carbon neutrality in 2050 and marks the end of an industrial era. For more than a century, the Old Continent has dominated automotive innovation with internal combustion engines considered the most efficient in the world.
The regulation had already been approved in mid-February by the plenary session of the European Parliament, after a green light from the Member States, including Germany. However, Berlin blocked the regulation in early March by demanding that the Commission make a proposal that would open the way for vehicles running on synthetic fuels. This controversial technology, which is still under development, would produce fuel from CO2 produced by industrial activities. Defended by German and Italian high-end manufacturers, it would allow the use of combustion engines to continue beyond 2035.
The European Union and Germany have finally reached an agreement to unblock the text, which remains unchanged. Brussels has simply committed to opening the way more clearly for synthetic fuels in a separate proposal to be validated by the fall of 2024. Vehicles with combustion engines will be allowed to be registered after 2035 if they exclusively use CO2-neutral fuels.
Although some experts believe that synthetic fuel technology is unlikely to take hold in the market and will only be used for luxury cars, it is opposed by environmental NGOs who consider it expensive, energy-intensive and polluting. The unchanged text was accepted by broad support among the ambassadors of the 27 member countries in Brussels, who agreed that the landmark regulation should be “put on the agenda” of a Tuesday meeting of energy ministers for formal adoption, the final step in the legislative process.
The automotive industry has already invested heavily in electric vehicles, and even if they prove their worth, synthetic fuels, which do not exist today, “will not play an important role in the medium term in the passenger car segment,” Markus Duesmann, head of Audi (Volkswagen Group), said recently. Because of their cost, they will only make sense for a few luxury cars “like Porsche 911s or Ferraris,” says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, an expert at Center Automotive.
