After the European elections, the ban on internal combustion engines is being discussed again. The German publication focus.de asked experts on the topic of propulsion technology and transport policy: Should the planned 2035 ban on LPG be kept or should it be repealed? Opinions differ, but the majority are in favor of repealing the ban.
From 2035, the sale of all new cars with petrol, diesel and hybrid engines will be banned in the EU. Parliament passed it last year by a relatively small majority. However, a growing number of politicians and car manufacturers are calling for the debate on the internal combustion engine ban to be reopened. As for car manufacturers, many companies are now moving away from the “Electric Only” strategy, while others continue to stick with it.
Just before the EU elections, even Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed down: it was important to review the ban on internal combustion engines, she said. But first the EU needs to review the real contribution of electric mobility to CO2 reduction so far. The recognition of the electric car as a “vehicle with zero emissions” can also be cancelled.
The CDU, encouraged by the tailwind after the EU elections, now wants to put the issue on the agenda in Brussels. Christoph Plos, CDU/CSU transport policy spokesman, said immediately after the election: “Citizens have spoken. They don't want a ban on internal combustion engines. As a Union, we will submit initiatives to parliament to stop the ban on internal combustion engines.“
But is this really a long-overdue reversal, or is it a purely symbolic policy that ignores real developments in the automotive world? Haven't the majority of car manufacturers long since chosen electric cars as the ultimate drivetrain? What contribution can alternative fuels actually make? Leading experts from the automotive industry were asked for their opinion, intentionally not interviewing representatives of NGOs or lobby groups. The range of opinions is very wide – and shows that there are still exciting discussions ahead for the EU and the automotive industry on the future of automotive powertrains.
Professor Christian Beedy, TU Darmstadt:
„Yes, the EU should lift the ban on internal combustion engines. This was a mistake. Efforts should be directed towards renewable and synthetic fuels. Other regions of the world have long realized this and are working intensively for their further development. The EU ban on internal combustion engines is anti-innovation, harms Europe as a location and harms both the climate and the successful market development of the automotive sector. Lifting this technology ban will in no way weaken climate goals - quite the contrary. Synthetic fuels pave the way for effective and ideally globally effective climate protection.“
Prof. Dr. Thomas Koch, KIT Karlsruhe:
„The DHG ban is the most illogical, anti-business and environmentally harmful project the EU has ever launched. If this registration ban were to be implemented in Europe from 2035, 30 billion tonnes of CO2 would be emitted in the coming years, including from existing vehicles, due to CO2 emissions from electricity generation by gas and coal-fired power plants. A third of this could be saved if electric mobility were limited in a natural way - by lifting the ban and using efficient synthetic fuel for internal combustion engines. In other countries, for example in Japan, science, industry, medium business and politics come together and develop a balanced policy with maximum impact on sustainability. There, economical hybrid drives are an important pillar of the future automotive industry."
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kral, TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe:
„The drive of the future must be diverse and be a mix of electric batteries and internal combustion engines. Wise policy does not prescribe technologies or even ban them, but rather sets goals. How they are achieved may well be left to the economy itself. It is important to make a fair comparison of the actual CO2 emissions of electric vehicles and internal combustion engines. Germany's electricity is still not 100 percent renewable. Even fuels cannot be made immediately. But there are climate-friendly fuels produced from biomass, for example biodiesel from rapeseed or waste, as well as increasingly HVO and e-fuels. Not to mention methanol. In plain language: the problem is not with the internal combustion engine, but with its fuel. Not using the existing potential or even banning it is foolish.
Professor Doctor. Friedrich Indra, Vienna:
„To this day, it is still incomprehensible to me how this politically motivated ban on internal combustion engines could ever occur in a market economy. Given the necessary overall assessment, this ban hardly contributes to climate protection. But fatally, this opened the door for the Chinese to be ahead of the curve with these technologies. The EU needs to lift the ban on internal combustion engines as quickly as possible, otherwise the Chinese will overtake us not only in e-mobility, but also with the new internal combustion engines that have been in development there for a long time. According to the current state of technology, only internal combustion engines, together with new climate-neutral fuels, can make an effective contribution to reducing harmful emissions from land, water or air traffic.“
Despite these expert opinions, it will likely be difficult to lift the ban on internal combustion engines again
A sensible alternative would be to fully integrate road traffic into the existing EU-ETS emissions trading system, where the planned EU-ETS 2 could be an intermediate step. In such an ecosystem, the choice of propulsion technology (and fuel) would be based on CO2 price signals rather than regulatory requirements, while current policy involves only anti-market “allocation” of vehicles with internal combustion engines.
One must also keep in mind the significant burden and harm of electric car production, which is simply ignored in the fundamentally flawed “end of the pipe” regulation. If clean electricity is scarce and electric cars end up being bad for the climate, the only consequence is private “demotorisation“.
However, it is likely to be difficult to lift the ban on internal combustion engines, as the European Parliament does not have the right of initiative for legislative proposals and the stubbornness of the Commission and the Council of Member States is enormous.