Europe Announces Reversal on 2035 Combustion Engine Ban

Europe’s controversial 2035 emissions laws will be wound back to allow the sale of a limited number of hybrid vehicles using internal combustion engines under a new proposal tabled in the European Parliament.

Reports earlier this month speculating on a proposed move have been proved correct after the European Commission (EC) officially announced plans to make the changes to the laws, following pressure from automakers.

The previous emissions regulations would have effectively banned the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) by mandating that all new light vehicles sold could not “emit any carbon-dioxide [tailpipe] emissions”.

While having no impact on vehicles already on the road, financial penalties would be paid by any automaker that exceeded its fleet emissions target.

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The European Union said 2035 was chosen given the typical 15-year lifespan of a vehicle in Europe, helping the broader goal of the transport sector to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

“The fleet-wide CO2 emission target for 2035 will require a 90 per cent decrease in emissions [compared with 2021], so in practice that will mean 90 per cent of vehicles will be electric, abiding by the principle of technological neutrality,” reads the proposal from the European Commission.

Emissions from the portion of ICE-powered vehicles – be they petrol, diesel, hybrid or plug-in hybrid – would be offset by other measures, such as the use of synthetic and low-emission fuel as well as ‘green steel’ production.

The plans also include incentivising small battery-electric vehicles produced in the EU with ‘super credits’, in a bid to stave off an influx of competition from China.