Automakers had been asking the European Union to rethink its plan to ban the sale of new combustion cars starting in 2035, to no avail. But a new letter from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging the governing body to back down from its position, may have taken hold.
The European Commission hasn't made any official changes yet, but mounting pressure suggests that a revised plan could be coming soon. According to the AN story, Merz (pictured above in September in the electric BMW iX3) wants to allow exceptions for plug-in hybrids, extended-range EVs, and "highly efficient" combustion vehicles beyond the current 2035 deadline.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, was cited by the German paper Handelsblatt as saying that the EU "will take all technological advances into account when reassessing fleet emission limits, including combustion engines running on e-fuels and biofuels."
And these renewable products will apparently be key pieces of the puzzle. BMW uses a vegetable-oil-derived fuel called HVO 100 in its diesel products throughout Europe. The plant-oil-based fuel reportedly reduces tailpipe emissions by 90 percent compared with traditional diesel. For its part, Porsche has been working on producing synthetic fuel at a plant in Chile since 2022.
The European Commission is set to meet on December 10. At that time, the body is expected to assemble a package of proposals to help out the struggling European automotive industry, though the actual announcement may be pushed to a later date.
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