Following numerous rumors about Europe no longer being so sure about its ambition to remove all dirty combustion engines from the streets, the European Commission has now officially admitted that a complete ICE ban is not happening.
In the revised plan posted the other day, automakers are required to reduce their emission profiles to just 10% of what they were in the year 2021. The deadline for this is still 2035, and the document outlines the various actions that the affected companies may take in order to meet the quota. For example, they can reduce their industrial carbon footprint, choose to produce their own low-carbon steel in the EU or look into the available synthetic fuel options.
In short, this means that, as long as any given company manages to reduce its emissions to 10% of what they were in 2021, it will be able to continue selling ICE cars of any design or configuration. All that matters is that the company’s portfolio becomes clean on average.
The EU Parliament has yet to consider this plan for approval next year, but it looks like the ICE engine isn’t going anywhere soon, after all. Rather than banning cars, Europe’s new plan envisions measures like incentivizing local EV production, subsidizing EV sales and growing a full-fledged infrastructure for new energy vehicles.
