The European Commission proposed to put the an end to the sale of endothermic cars from 2035. We have talked about it several times and we have seen how this position has opened more fronts within member countries among those in favor and among those who want different solutions.
Apparently, the German government he would be thinking of some sort of intermediate solution. Speaking on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU transport ministers outside Paris, Volker Wissing, the Minister of Transport of Germany, highlighted the desire to keep combustion engines alive after 2035 even if under a specific condition. In fact, in order to survive the engines will have to be fueled with synthetic fuels.
We want to allow combustion engines even after 2035 only if the cars can run exclusively on synthetic fuels.
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In addition to the idea of using synthetic fuels for internal combustion engines, Wissing also supported the French position that hybrid vehicles they can be useful for reducing polluting emissions.
Today we don’t have enough electric vehicles and we need to increase their availability. So it is better for people to use hybrid technology as an intermediate solution.
The German Minister also highlighted that the government shouldn’t rely on just one technology.
We cannot focus solely on electric mobility or the Fuel Cell for the future. We must remain technologically neutral.
In short, apparently the German government would aim to keep combustion engines alive even beyond the 2035 deadline as long as they use synthetic fuels. A position that could represent a new obstacle for the negotiations that will take place between the Member States of the European Union on the Commission’s proposal.
A position that also takes into account all the requests of the automotive supply chain which has repeatedly highlighted, also in Italy, that all possible alternative technologies are taken into consideration in order to reach the goal of decarbonising the transport sector. It is worth remembering that Italy also looks favorably on synthetic fuels. The Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolanihas repeatedly reiterated the plan to focus on these fuels as another way to achieve the decarbonisation of transport.
We will see how the discussion on the Commission proposal evolves over the next few months. The feeling is that it will be very difficult to find an agreement quickly.
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