The proposal to ban combustion engines criticized by automotive lobby groups

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Automakers have criticized the European Commission’s proposal to effectively ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars in the bloc by the middle of the next decade.

The Commission’s new climate package to cut global warming CO2 emissions, announced on Wednesday, includes a target of zeroing the CO2 of new cars sold in the bloc by 2035. The plan means it won’t will not be possible to sell new combustion engine cars in the EU from that date.

Banning a single technology “is not a rational path to take” at this point, the ACEA association of European car manufacturers said.

“We urge all European institutions to focus on innovation rather than imposing, or effectively banning, a specific technology,” ACEA President Oliver Zipse said in a statement.

Zipse, who is the CEO of the BMW Group, currently holds the chairmanship of ACEA, which rotates among the CEOs of the European automaker.

As part of the Commission’s Fit for 55 package announced on Wednesday, officials are also seeking a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2021, lifting an earlier target of a 37.5% reduction in CO2 emissions. ‘by the end of the decade.

Zipse said the 2030 proposal requires a further massive increase in market demand for electric vehicles within a short period of time.

“Without significantly increased efforts from all stakeholders – including Member States and all relevant sectors – the proposed target is simply not viable,” he said.

The German automobile association VDA also criticized the phase-out date for combustion engines in 2035.

“With the fleet limit value of zero grams scheduled for 2035, the European Commission is indeed proposing a ban on internal combustion engines, including in hybrids,” said VDA chairperson Hildegard Müller.

“It’s anti-innovation and the opposite of openness to technology. It also restricts consumers’ freedom of choice,” Mueller said in a statement.

The impact on employment in this sector will be considerable, but the European Commission has not made any assessment of the social consequences of its plans, the VDA said.

The association of European suppliers, CLEPA, said the 2035 ban is “not the most effective or efficient way to ensure climate neutral transport” in the EU.

“It may not even get us there,” the association’s general secretary Sigrid de Vries said in a statement.

De Vries said internal combustion engines are climate neutral when running on sustainable renewable fuels and battery-electric vehicles are climate neutral when loaded with renewable electricity.

“The priority should be renewable fuels and electricity, not banning a technology,” de Vries said.

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