The EU scrapped its plan to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars for a decade, following pressure from major carmakers and other member states.
The European Commission, which is proposing regulations for the 27-nation bloc, has announced a breathing room that effectively removes the previous strict objective – where all new sales had to be zero-emission vehicles – and allows plug-in hybrids, hybrids and combustion engine vehicles to continue to be sold before 2035.
“In fact, 90 percent of cars will be electric,” European climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said at a press conference in Strasbourg, France. “For the remaining 10 percent, we allow flexibility.”
proposal, which still needs to be approved by the member states and the European Parliament, it says car manufacturers can make that 10 percent by using renewable fuel or by using low-emission steel made in Europe.
This is the second change from the European Commission for the automotive industry, as it already introduced changes to how emissions will be calculated earlier this year.
This comes as Canada weighs its electric vehicle future, and the US recommits to gas vehicles — all while automakers grapple with China’s EV dominance.
Although Hoekstra describes this as a “win-win” for all, some critics see it as a disruption in an ambitious plan that will significantly reduce European emissions.
“The world is going electric and this will happen with or without Europe,” said Lucien Mathieu, director of the vehicle program at Transport & Environment, a group of non-governmental organizations. “What Europe is risking to do – by sticking to the combustion engine and hybrids – is investing in this technology that will become obsolete.”
Ambition meets pragmatism
Some experts see today’s move as the right compromise, adapting to the current economic pressures on automakers.
“I think the EU is taking a sensible approach,” said Joanna Kyriazis, director of policy and strategy at Clean Energy Canada. “All countries with domestic auto sectors are reviewing their policy situation to find out what is feasible, what is reasonable.”
“A hundred percent is always a problematic goal,” said Gil Tal, director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California, Davis. “To prevent gas cars, it may be very good up to 90 percent and then very, very, very, very expensive for the last 10 percent.”
The EV elephant
In the months leading up to Tuesday’s proposed changes, there have been intense lobbying and pressure campaigns.
In a recent letter, six EU leaders want to allow fuel-efficient cars to “pursue our climate goals in an efficient way, while not killing our competitiveness.” The debate, signed by several hundred members of the European electric vehicle industry, warned that lowering the target would risk “too much dependence, loss of influence, and irreversible backlash.”
The bottom and top definition of both letters was the elephant in the room: China, the world leader in the production and sales of electric vehicles.
Kyriazis says EVs made in China have low-cost, high-quality challenges, but their dominance is not perfect. Although Europe has allowed them to be sold at a lower price than Canada and the US, it accounts for about 10 percent of electric vehicle sales.
“The fear is that these EVs will take over and kill local industries. And even though they are popular cars with drivers, they haven’t taken over,” said Kyriazis.
But others see any slowdown from Europe as an opening for China.
“This is a global race to electric cars,” Mathieu told CBC News from Brussels. “China is currently racing ahead, and Europe will not be able to catch up by investing in yesterday’s technology.”
Change signals
Today’s proposed shiftt is not a comlete reform, unlike US President Donald Trump in repealing the EV mandate and tax credits and lowering fuel economy standards for gasoline vehicles. But experts say the decline will be felt globally.
“It sends a message of mixed signals, a message of skepticism,” explained Mathieu, adding that the proposals serve as a compass for EV investment.
“We see today that hundreds of billions of euros have been invested in electronic technology … all those investments could be at risk if we change the objectives while we are starting or during this transition.”
To ease tax and trade pressures, Prime Minister Mark Carney has temporarily suspended Canada’s electric car sales targets, which also called for all Canadian cars sold to be electric by 2035.
“Canada is at an inflection point right now,” Kyriazis said, explaining that it could either follow the American example or adjust its plans slightly, as the EU is doing. “I hope … we take the same approach to adjusting policy to respond to this moment in time, while maintaining a clear market signal and commitment to electrification.”
And experts agree that no matter what the road looks like to get there, getting off gas cars is worth the hassle along the way.
“Decarbonizing the light vehicle industry is the closest thing to a silver bullet we have,” Tal told CBC News.
“It’s one policy, one technology that really works, that can make a big difference.”
