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Great news out of the EU regarding the internal combustion engine!
Bad news for those foolish enough to think ICE vehicles would be gone by 2030.



Following the European Union’s decision to pass legislation that would lead to the end of ICE vehicle sales in the coming years, quite a bit has changed. Global demand for EVs has thus far grown at a slower rate than previously expected, prompting automakers like Ford to scale back planned investments in that area, delay new model launches, and recommit to gas- and hybrid-powered vehicles. Thus, the EU’s 2035 EV mandate has since been in a bit of a flux, and now, it could be in line for even more changes.

According to Bloomberg, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is now pushing to add an exemption for vehicles running on cleaner e-fuels in the 2035 EV mandate. This change would reportedly address concerns from other lawmakers and automakers surrounding the state of the current all-electric vehicle market, though the legislation would still require companies to completely eliminate CO2 emissions by 2035, regardless.

“We keep the timing, we keep the objective, but we make it more clear that it is technologically neutral,” said Pascal Canfin, chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee, who attended the meeting where von der Leyen made this proposal. “A car could remain and be sold on the streets with an internal combustion engine if it is run on 100 percent e-fuel, which is 100 percent zero-carbon.”

To date, Ford has remained supportive of the EU’s EV mandate, even as the automaker has shifted gears and recently ditched its own 2030 deadline to go fully electric across its European passenger vehicle lineup. Lobby groups have said that other automakers won’t fight that legislature either, though on the same token, Ford CEO Jim Farley remains adamant that he’ll keep V8 engines and other ICE models around for the foreseeable future – though the company is also looking into synthetic fuels as a way to do that.