The 2035 standard should be eased, according to automotive manufacturers struggling to keep up with China’s dominant EV brands.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meeting today with executives from the country’s top car manufacturers to discuss the bloc’s aim of ending the sale of carbon dioxide-emitting cars by 2035. He had previously been pushing for Brussels to drop the ban.
Nevertheless, the industry itself has been putting significant pressure on politicians to reconsider legislation around CO2 reduction. This incudes exemptions from the combustion engine phase-out for plug-in hybrids and a bonus for supposedly low-carbon fuels. A European Commission review of existing targets is is due by the end of this year.
According to Transport & Environment, under new policy proposals by automotive companies, battery electric vehicles would account for between 44 and 69% of the region’s total market by 2035, rather than 100%.
This is below the level that could be possible without any regulatory steps, and is likely o undermine much-needed investment. In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, the changes risk adding up to 31% compared with current targets, or 0.5 to 1.4 Gt of CO2.
‘Give them a finger and they’ll take the whole hand. After crying wolf on the 2025 EU target despite EV sales growing in Germany, the car industry now wants to roll back the 2035 standard before any meaningful work to reach it has begun,’ said Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles & emobility supply chains at T&E. ‘Meanwhile, the rest of the world is going electric regardless. The EU cannot afford to let its auto industry fall further behind.’
Image: yang miao / Unsplash
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