Published on March 23rd, 2023 | by Sounder Rajen

EU Now Planning To Let ICE Cars Use E-Fuel From 2035

Does this mean the EU ban on ICE vehicles is officially fully lifted?

Well, this season of “when EVs attack” is certainly ramping up, let’s recap. In the last season, the European Union (EU) stated it would ban the sale of new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles but this season, Germany has pushed against this move and forced the EU to reconsider. Now the ban seems to be removed all together.

New Geely 1.5 litre high thermal efficiency engine

Well now, this an interesting turn of events and in fact, so much so that this is almost as funny as our parliament, almost, but either way, the EU now has drafted a plan to allow for these cars to continue going on sale from 2035 if these cars use e-fuels. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or both. Probably both.

Moreover, despite the fact that the EU has already been pushing forward with its plans to ban the sales of new ICE vehicles from 2035, which made the EU market a leader in the space of an electric future until Germany’s Transport Ministry objected to the law at the last minute.

Well, this caused the EU to put that law on hold as it was reviewed and now it looks like Germany has won its case as the country had demanded that the EU allows for the sale of new cars that run solely on e-fuels to also be legal along side electric vehicles (EVs), which I honestly prefer over outright banning ICE cars as a whole.

Germany’s problem with the EU trying to outright ban the sale of ICE vehicles, according it’s Transport Ministry, is that this system is problematic since it would force car manufacturers to develop new EV engines, which we all know is not just expensive but also cumbersome as it may initially have many problems to work out,

On top of that, I personally, will have to agree with Germany on this as we all know, new technology can often be even dangerous and especially when it comes to something as flammable as an engine, it could even lead to loss of life, where as existing technology has already had time to become better.

In another plot twist moment, Italy has also expressed its opposition to the EU’s ban on ICE vehicles as it is currently understood that Porsche and Ferrari are among the manufacturers that hope that ICE engines can still thrive beyond the year 2035 which echoes my own sentiment of ICE engines existing in harmony with EVs.

If synthetic fuels are the only way for this peaceful coexistence of ICE vehicles and EVs beyond 2035 and the future in general, then this is a compromise I am more than happy to accept, even though, it is very likely that petrol prices are likely to soar if only e-fuels are on sale, but hey, at least I can still enjoy hearing an engine roar.