- In addition to Germany, Italy and several Eastern European countries are now forming a bloc to create exceptions in the text which should ban thermal cars from 2035 in Europe
- At the heart of this pass of arms: the synthetic fuels (e-Fuel) that certain manufacturers wish to develop
- Discussions between the pro e-fuels alliance and the Commission are continuing, for the time being – but the German position seems to be gaining ground little by little
Germany has approached Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia on the sidelines of a meeting of European transport ministers on Monday 13 March 2023. Their governments are in fact all opposed to the banning of combustion-powered cars from 2035 on the Old Continent – at least in the current state of the text.
Where it gets stuck is that the project has so far planned to completely sideline gasoline and diesel cars. While car manufacturers are betting on a compromise: that of “classic” cars, but running exclusively on a carbon-neutral synthetic fuel – made using renewable energies and carbon compounds captured in the air.
Why Germany and other countries oppose the ban on internal combustion cars
At the time of writing, moreover, and while negotiations are still underway, the Commission has reportedly agreed to submit a new draft text with a conditional exemption for internal combustion vehicles running exclusively on e-Fuels. In 2022 the European Parliament, the Commission and EU Member States agreed to ban the sale of new thermal vehicles in the EU by 2035.
The idea had been validated in October by the 27 Member States, including Germany. The country’s about-face a few weeks ago was therefore a surprise. Volker Wissing, German Minister of Transport, argues for his part that depriving himself of thermal vehicles running exclusively on e-fuels would harm innovation in Europe. Several German manufacturers, in particular Volkswagen and Porsche, believe in the future of vehicles running on “e-Fuel”.
Of course technology has advantages, at least on paper: it makes it possible to continue to use (and develop) extremely well-mastered engine technologies, and not to force all manufacturers to electrify their ranges. On the consumer side, e-Fuel guarantees not to change habits too much, whether in terms of autonomy or the way of refueling.
When talking about synthetic fuel, it should be emphasized that the actual manufacture of the fuel is de facto a particularly inefficient form of electricity storage. Indeed, to be neutral in terms of emissions, e-Fuels must necessarily be generated via industrial processes requiring both the capture of CO2 and the breaking and reassembling of the molecule into a hydrocarbon by hydrolysis or other processes using electricity, before refining…
Are thermal cars running on e-Fuel a chimera?
Since this requires the construction of renewable energy production units (whose actual construction is not neutral from an emissions point of view) and the sector’s consumption promises to be excessive (after all, no combustion is 100% efficient), these e-Fuels will never be truly energy neutral.
Other players are concerned that adding e-fuel exemptions will cause regulatory uncertainty within the EU, leading to the persistence of thermal vehicles in the market beyond 2035, as well as potentially support demand for “non-carbon-free” fuels beyond this horizon.
The automotive industry employs more than 800,000 Germans and is the largest sector of the German economy, generating around 417 billion euros per year. Porsche and Volkswagen are, we told you, at the forefront on the subject. But not all manufacturers are in tune, including in Germany. Like Audi, which opposes the position of the German Minister of Transport, and therefore the postponement of the vote.
Audi, for its part, is betting on a complete electrification of its ranges at the end of this decade, in order to be ready by 2035, whatever happens. Still, beyond these decisions, European consumers could well tip the scales in favor of electric.
Producing e-Fuels will be expensive (the price per liter will therefore be too…), and it is likely that charging your electric car will ultimately be much cheaper than filling up with synthetic fuel. And with the evolution of fast charging technologies, it is not even certain that in 10 years from now refueling will take less time than charging your vehicle…
