‘Huge challenge’
The European car industry organization ACEA reacts positively to the ban on traditional fuel engines as of 2035, which has now really been agreed. According to ACEA, it makes clear what the industry must work towards in the coming years, although it remains an ‘enormous challenge’.
By now we don’t dare to write it anymore, but it now really seems that it is over. By 2035, new cars will no longer have conventional fossil fuel combustion engines. However, due to resistance from Germany, there will be an exception from then on for combustion engines that run exclusively on sustainable synthetic fuels. This means that there is no general ban on fuel engines from 2035, but it remains a considerable change.
Sigrid de Vries, the director general of the European industry association ACEA, reacts positively to the agreement: “The course has now been officially set. Our industry welcomes the planning certainty that today’s milestone brings and is working at full speed to meet this enormous challenge. All ACEA members strongly support climate neutrality by 2050 and are committed to achieving the zero carbon target for 2035. We look forward to more details on the next legislative steps.”
The ACEA clearly takes a different tone on the 2035 agreement than on the way forward desired by the EU with the Euro7 standard for fuel engines. The organization was recently very critical of Euro7 through ACEA president Luca de Meo. De Vries now states that the ACEA is ‘convinced that a technologically neutral approach – with widespread electrification at its core – is the best way to achieve the climate goals.’ ACEA has not yet spoken the last word on Euro7.
According to De Vries, there is also still a lot of work to be done to ensure favorable conditions for European automakers and car buyers in view of 2035. “Now policymakers must ensure that EU citizens are convinced to switch en masse to e-mobility. mobility. This means these cars need to be affordable and easy to charge. The industry also needs competitive access to critical raw materials and energy to maintain a sustainable future in Europe.”
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl