Over the past few years there have been a number of efforts by EU lawmakers to at least relax the blanket ban on combustion engine vehicles due to come into effect in 2035. Some companies have been quietly working behind the scene to allow alternative sources of combustible fuel to be allowed.
According to a report from Reuters, the European Peoples Group in the European Parliament (EPP), a grouping of centre-right parliamentary deputies from across the European Nations and currently the largest group of lawmakers in the Union, is now challenging the law.
The DPP group says that they will attempt to overthrow the EU’s main climate policy for cars, the Combustion Engine ban, during a review of the plan this year. The hemp-trouser-wearing Greens and Champagne-Socialists who support the ban maintain that the ban is crucial to the continent’s eco-ambitions and will only ensure that the automotive sector transitions to low-carbon in the future.
The proposed changes to the bill will include changes that allow for cars running on synthetic and bio-fuels like those being developed by Porsche. Plug-in hybrids, which of course also have a combustion engine, would also be permissible under the proposed amendments.
Leader of the DPP group, Jens Gieseke, announced “It was a mistake to ban the combustion engine, If fuels lead to a less carbon-intensive footprint, this should be recognised.” Gieseke is of course German a country where some 800,000 jobs are at risk in the brave new-world of low carbon emissions.
Individual countries have already stated that they will revise the 2035 target for compliance with the ban, most importantly in Germany and Italy. But also the Czech Republic, which is the home of Skoda.
Those on the left of the argument who still clutch on to the dream of a carbon-free transportation system, you know, those that fly private jets to Davos, claim that without the ban, there will be a lack of investment in innovation in the industry.
I think this is just fear-mongering. Quite a few industry heavyweights disagree. Most industries innovate in response to market demands. We have seen huge improvements in car efficiency and design over the past decade.
Besides, the public is not in love with EVs due to all of the shortcomings and costs that we have highlighted so frequently in the past.
