L’Europe takes a further step towards a total ban on the sale of new combustion-powered cars from 2035. MEPs from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety have adopted a report which supports the Commission’s proposal achieve zero-emission road mobility by 2035.
In July 2021, the Commission presented a bill to ban the sale of thermal vehicles in the Union, including hybrid models. The vote of the deputies in committee was however tight, with 46 votes for, 40 once morest and 2 abstentions.
The next step is a plenary session of Parliament scheduled for June, which should enact this law (to then be presented to the Member States). If this is the case, only zero-emission vehicles will be able to be sold in 2035. On the scale of the automotive industry, this is a lightning-fast transition.
However, many manufacturers have already made this change. Many of them have even planned to sell only electric vehicles before 2035. For example, Ford, Renault, Volvo will be all-electric in 2030. It will even be as early as 2028 for Opel, 2027 for Alfa Romeo and Fiat.
Some hope all the same for a relaxation during the development of the final text with the governments of the member countries to authorize hybrids for a while longer, in order to ensure a less brutal transition, in particular for the less well-off households. Luca de Meo, general manager of Renault, would like this additional time for Dacia.
Europe, for its part, thinks that the prices of electricity will fall with technological progress, the amortization of investments and the surge in production volumes. For Jan Huitema, rapporteur of the text, “This step is particularly important in view of the continued rise in diesel and oil prices. This regulation guarantees access to sustainable driving for everyone.”