With European sales and production of electric cars lagging in comparison, a blame game has emerged between automakers and policymakers. “A regulatory framework that ignores customer needs and market realities – and at the same time fails to create the necessary conditions for alternative technologies – cannot succeed,” a BMW spokesperson said in a written statement to WIRED, explaining that the company is against. to the 2035 ban. It added that unless “charging infrastructure, the availability of renewable energies and access to raw materials” are addressed, the ban will cause the “entire car market” to shrink.
Given that the car industry employs 13.8 million people across Europe and represents about 7 percent of the continent's gross domestic product, such a reduction would be economically disastrous.
Low car sales have already prompted Volkswagen to announce plans to close at least three factories, raising concerns in Germany about the country's economic prospects. The far-right political party Alternative for Germany, which is currently second in the polls ahead of the snap general election in February 2025, does not support a ban on combustion engines and has made the perceived economic costs of environmental policies a key part of its agenda. policy made. messaging.
“Let's put it bluntly: consumers simply don't believe in e-mobility,” says Beatrix Keim, director of CAR Center for Automotive Research. “The vehicles are perceived as too expensive, people are concerned about the safety of the batteries and are also concerned about charging costs.” She believes that both politicians and industry can play a role in changing this, both through subsidies and investments in infrastructure such as charging solutions, and by creating cheaper vehicles. “It could be tactical pricing, discounts, rebates, or simply lowering prices – which of course has to be balanced with financial gains,” she says. “But overall, they [both] We need to ensure that the public understands e-mobility better and clear up some myths, such as battery safety.”
In an effort to keep their factories and technologies alive, some European automakers have floated the idea of ”clean” fuels as a means to continue selling cars with combustion engines beyond the 2035 deadline. Germany is leading the way in this and has successfully campaigned in 2023 to exempt vehicles running on “e-fuels” from the ban. E-fuels, which are still in the research and development phase, are made by combining hydrogen and carbon dioxide and, according to their proponents, produce significantly fewer emissions than gasoline.
However, not all industry experts are convinced. “E-fuels are complete nonsense,” says Peter Mock, Europe director of the International Council on Clean Transport. “The efficiency of those fuels is terrible, which means prices are very high – and they will remain so.” Additionally, he believes that talking about alternative fuels is confusing to consumers, which could further hurt electric vehicle sales. “EVs are simply the most efficient, cheapest and most convenient means of transportation, and we need to communicate that,” he says.
Of course, the 2035 ban will only apply to European Union countries, while the continent's carmakers will continue to sell globally. One solution could be a pivot to U.S. markets, where electric vehicle sales forecasts are already being cut during Trump's presidency.
