European Union May Not Ban ICE Vehicles Under New Plan

For years now, the European Union has been working on proposals that would effectively ban the sales of ICE vehicles at some point in the future, most recently by 2035, while some countries – such as the UK – have imposed even stricter pieces of legislation in that regard. Meanwhile, Ford plans on transitioning its entire passenger vehicle lineup in that region to EVs by 2030 or sooner, throwing its support behind efforts to do precisely that as well. Regardless, earlier this month, the European Union chose to delay its vote on the 2035 zero emissions mandate following opposition from Germany and Italy, and now, at least one revision is set to take place, according to Reuters.

Germany and Italy have long argued that provisions should be made to allow for e-fuels, or fuel that is carbon neutral, and now, the EU has agreed to propose a way for those types of vehicles to be excepted from the 2035 ICE phaseout. The agency will create a new category for vehicles that run on e-fuels, which will be followed by additional legislation outlining how these types of vehicles can contribute to the region’s emissions reduction goals.

It seems as if the European Union is serious about this particular revision, as it will be enacted as a delegated act – which is difficult for countries there to reject. Additionally, the EU has promised that if that indeed does happen, it will “follow another legislative path” to allow the sale of vehicles that run on carbon-neutral fuels. Regardless, this move was met with criticism from environmentalist groups, who argue that it opens the door for governments to block other climate policies.

“E-fuels are an expensive and massively inefficient diversion from the transformation to electric facing Europe’s carmakers,” said Julia Poliscanova, a senior director at campaign group Transport & Environment.

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