Germany Successfully Pushes EU Back On ICE Car Ban

Does this signal a way forward for internal combustion?

Undoubtedly you already know about the European Union’s 2035 ban on the sale of all internal combustion engine vehicles for consumers. Similar plans have been adopted by California and other places in a quest to cut emissions of CO2 and other pollutants from cars. However, not everyone has been onboard with this move, notably Germany and many Eastern European countries which rely heavily on vehicle manufacturing for their economies.

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Over the weekend an agreement between the pro- and con-ICE factions was hammered out, something EU Commissioner Vice-President Frans Timmermans proudly announced on Twitter. It involves allowing the continued sale of ICE vehicles on the continent beyond 2035 if they run using e-fuels.

We have found an agreement with Germany on the future use of efuels in cars.

We will work now on getting the CO2-standards for cars regulation adopted as soon as possible, and the Commission will follow-up swiftly with the necessary legal steps to implement recital 11.

— Frans Timmermans (@F__Timmermans) March 25, 2023

This is being hailed by some as a victory for “climate-neutral” transportation as well as working-class citizens who likely won’t be able to afford an EV. Others see this as a way to simply shuffle the emissions necessary to produce fuel for cars to other parts of the world.

German automakers have been quite cavalier about e-fuels for the past few years, but that intensity has increased markedly since ICE bans have been passed around the world. For example, Porsche showed off an e-fuel manufacturing facility in the Patagonia region of Chile recently, boasting that it uses “green” energy to make the fuel. What’s left out of that slick press release is how the wind turbine prominently displayed was manufactured and how the fuel is to be transported to other parts of the world. Such details seemingly are dismissed as inconsequential in the “zero emissions” game.

There’s talk of outfitting existing ICE vehicles to run on e-fuels, but the technology is still young. Still, it could prove to be a way forward for anyone not wanting to switch to EVs but who lives in an area where strict climate restrictions are to be enforced. Call it unfair, but this isn’t the first time a crushing change has been enforced on the auto industry in a quest to supposedly clean up the planet.

Will it work? Few seem to really be questioning that. After all, if emissions aren’t coming from a car’s tailpipe, do they even exist?

Source: AP News

Images via Porsche