Lawmakers in the European Union voted Tuesday to ban the sale of new petrol-powered cars and vans by 2035, mandating that all new cars in Europe be de facto electrified within 12 years.
While some lawmakers argued that the ban would pose a threat to the European auto industry, the majority saw the move as a way to curb the inevitable transition to electric vehicles and said it would ultimately benefit the continent's manufacturing industries.
“These goals create clarity for the auto industry and encourage innovation and investment for automakers,” said Jan Huitema, Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands. Huitema also argued that the measure would save consumers on fuel costs. Although electric cars are currently more expensive than conventional models, prices are falling and are expected to be cost competitive by 2035.
The 27-nation bloc's move is the biggest ever step towards eliminating climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, an industry that accounts for 37% of global carbon emissions. Automobiles are the largest source of transportation emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. The EU previously required new cars to have 2021% lower carbon emissions than by 55, and new vans must halve their emissions by 2030.
The state of California, which has the largest share of auto sales in the United States, has set a standard mandating all-electric new car sales by 2035, and many other states are preparing to follow suit.
The decommissioning of internal combustion engines is also expected to significantly improve air quality. A number of studies have shown that switching to electric vehicles reduces air pollutants such as ozone that cause respiratory diseases – even when the electricity that powers cars is generated from fossil fuels.
Theoretically, the new law would not only require electric vehicles, but a zero-emission fuel like green hydrogen – hydrogen obtained by decomposing water using cleanly generated electricity – would also be appropriate.
When a ban on gas-powered cars by 2035 was first proposed last June, some European climate activists criticized the plan as too weak to meet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's target of halving emissions by 2030.
“Banning new oil-burning cars is the right thing to do, but phasing out by 2035 is too late to limit global warming to 1,5°C, trapping us in the oil dependency that finances wars and hurts the pockets of people at the pump. Greenpeace EU transport campaigner Lorelei Limousino said of the time.
The auto industry in Europe and the United States is increasingly supporting the phasing out of internal combustion engines. He sent summaries owned by a number of automakers to support California against a lawsuit by oil companies that challenged clean car rules.
The new rules do not apply to trucks, which have a disproportionately large share of air and climate pollution. Instead, arguing that electric truck technology is not so well developed, the European Commission proposed on Tuesday that emissions of new trucks and long-haul buses should reach a 2019% reduction from 2040 levels by 90.
Even if total car production in Europe does not decrease as a result of the law, some car company employees will be displaced during the transition.
Ford Motor Company announced on Tuesday it was cutting nearly 11% of its workforce in Europe over the next three years as it shifts resources from factories that already produce gas-powered vehicles to factories that make electric vehicles.
The U.S. has yet to set a specific date for banning the sale of new gas-powered cars, but increasingly strict fuel efficiency standards for the remainder of this decade, and the Biden administration and Congress have imposed substantial subsidies for low- and middle-income households' EV purchases in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Confirmed. The Ministry of Transport is currently building a national network of EV charging stations.