In the dispute over the ban on new registrations of cars with combustion engines from 2035, the EU Commission has presented a new proposal. The Commission wants to continue to allow combustion engines, provided it is ensured that the cars can actually only be refueled with e-fuels. This emerges from a regulatory proposal by the Brussels authorities, which is available to the Reuters news agency.
According to the proposal, the cars would have to be able to technically recognize when petrol or diesel has been fueled instead of e-fuels and then switch off the engine automatically. Such a type class of cars could then also be re-registered after 2035.
However, current e-fuels, with which existing combustion engines can also be operated, largely correspond chemically to the previous fuels petrol or diesel. A way of recognizing the fuels would probably have to be created via the dispenser.
German threat of veto against EU plans
The discussion recently picked up speed again when the German Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) announced a veto against the ban on new registrations of cars with combustion engines in the EU, which had actually already been negotiated. Since other countries – including Austria – have also threatened such a veto, there is currently no majority for the original plans.
So far, e-fuels have only been produced in very small quantities anyway. They are currently correspondingly expensive and, moreover, very energy-intensive to produce. According to the Commission, they should be reserved primarily for areas that are difficult or impossible to electrify – for example air traffic.
Proponents of e-fuels, on the other hand, advocate the widest possible use. Among other things, they argue that use on the road would encourage production to ramp up. The discussion also reveals fundamental questions about the conversion of our energy system.
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