A historic turn that shakes the foundations of mobility
In a move that has shaken the halls of power in Frankfurt and sent shock waves throughout the community capital, senior officials of the European Union have taken a momentous step. With the beating heart of the industry in their hands, this Tuesday they moved forward to soften what seemed like an irrevocable sentence: the ban on sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines by the year 2035. It was not an act of generosity, but an epic surrender to the monumental pressure of titanic governments and car manufacturers who were crying out to the heavens for a respite, for an iota of flexibility in its titanic struggle to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and achieve the sacred climate goals.
The new battle for emissions: from 100% to 90%
The EU Executive Commission, in a proposal that rewrites destiny, intends to modify the 2023 legislation that required a 100% reduction in the average emissions of new cars compared to 2021 levels. The new edict lowers the requirement to 90%. In practice, this seemingly modest change is a crack in the wall, a vital space that will allow the survival of some combustion engine vehicles in an ocean that was believed destined to be fully electric. To compensate for this concession, Herculean conditions are imposed: manufacturers must redeem their additional emissions by using European steel manufactured with low-carbon footprint methods and betting on the mysterious climate-neutral e-fuels, created from renewable electricity and captured CO2, along with plant-based biofuels.
Spokespeople in Brussels swear that this more lenient limit will not divert the inexorable march towards a climate-neutral economy by 2050. However, this adjustment opens the door wide so that plug-in hybrids, those vehicles with two souls, electric and combustion, can continue to find a place in the market. The proposal comes accompanied by a song to European self-sufficiency, with measures to boost continental production of batteries and small electric cars. But this decision, which still must be blessed by the member governments and the European Parliament, is the fruit of a colossal struggle with powers such as Germany and Italy, guardians of industrial giants fearful for the future of a sector that employs legions.
The clamor of the industry and the shadow of an oriental giant
The chorus of the automotive industry has not ceased in its warning: the charging infrastructure is advancing at a snail’s pace, insufficient to convince the masses to abandon gasoline and diesel. Added to this drama are other acts: the cancellation of government subsidies, the prohibitive prices of European electric vehicles and a market that has not yet fully recovered from the cataclysm of the COVID-19 pandemic. But over this scenario of uncertainty a long and powerful shadow looms: the unstoppable advance of Chinese automobiles, economical and electrified, which threaten to conquer the continent.
Meanwhile, sales of 100% electric vehicles in Europe grew by 26% in the first ten months of the year, reaching 16% of the market. A progress that, for environmental groups such as Transport & Environment, is now betrayed. The move, they bitterly say, sends “a confusing signal” that will divert crucial investments away from electrification just when European manufacturers desperately need to catch up with their Chinese rivals. And the comparison hurts: in China, the cathedral of electrification, battery-powered vehicles already account for 34% of the market, driven by state support and fierce competition that lowers costs.
This European turn is not an isolated act, but part of a global pulse. On the other side of the Atlantic, President Donald Trump has deployed his own agenda, relaxing fuel economy requirements and extending the life of combustion engines, in a clear nod to the hydrocarbon industry. A policy that brutally contrasts with the strictest rules of the Joe Biden era. Even in California, the American environmental beacon, a similar ban from 2035 found its wall in Congress.
The path to the mobility of the future is thus revealed, not as a straight highway, but as a labyrinth full of twists, pressures and epic battles where each decision seems to be burdened with the weight of the future of the planet. The great transition has found its first and monumental reverse.
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