The European Union Reconsiders its 2035 Internal-Combustion Ban
Several industry stakeholders argue consumers aren’t ready for such a drastic move, and that it would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.By Jim MotavalliPublished: Sep 24, 2025 9:03 AM EDT
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- In 2022, the European Union voted to ban sales of internal-combustion vehicles by 2035, with phase-out targets along the way.
- With the rate of adoption of electric and electrified vehicles since slowing, several big players have made their opposition to an outright ban heard.
- Automakers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, among others, are pushing for “technological neutrality,” while still claiming to be on board with a progression toward decarbonization.
The naysayers have a phrase for it, “technological neutrality,” and they’re wielding it like a sledgehammer to persuade the European Union to loosen the reins on its 2035 internal-combustion ban. With Mercedes-Benz, BMW and their Tier One suppliers in the lead, the big players of the European industry are saying that consumers there aren’t ready for such a drastic move, which they say would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The current take rate for battery EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) in Europe is between 15% and 16%. That compares to 11.46% for the US, as of last August. There’s no pending federal ban on gas vehicles in the US, though some states have enacted legislation similar to that of Europe.
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A scheduled review of the 2035 EU ruling is underway, and automakers want the result to be allowing plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and internal-combustion cars running on biofuels and synthetic gasoline (e-fuel) made from hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide.
In an interview with Politico, BMW CEO Oliver Zipse called the 2035 ban “a big mistake,” and added, “I think we’re doing ourselves a disservice by choosing an almost arbitrary point in the future where we say all industries have to align themselves with it by then.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she’s open to some form of technological neutrality, though a revised proposal won’t be available until December. Zipse said that PHEVs, battery EVs, hydrogen cars, diesel, and gasoline should all be allowed, and fit into a framework that calculates a vehicle’s total carbon emissions, rather than insisting on nothing coming out of the tailpipe.Thierry Monasse//Getty Images
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In a follow-up, BMW spokesman Phil Dilanni told Autoweek, “We were one of the few automakers who never declared the end of the internal-combustion engine. Rather, we’ve been following our own ‘technology openness’ strategy which allows our customers to choose the vehicle and drivetrain that best suits their needs.” BMW builds gas vehicles, PHEVs, EVs and, beginning in 2028, its first series-production fuel-cell vehicle, the iX5 Hydrogen.
Mercedes-Benz is equally vociferous. In a joint letter with European Association of Automotive Suppliers President Matthias Zink, Mercedes-Benz Group AG CEO Ola Källenius said, “Europe’s transformation plan for the auto industry must move beyond idealism to acknowledge current industrial and geopolitical realities. Meeting CO2 targets for 2030 and 2035 is, in today’s world, simply no longer feasible.”
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Källenius, who is also president of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said in an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt that the rules in place are “draconian” and will send European manufacturers “driving full speed into the wall.” He described the impending regulation as “rain, hail, storms, and snow all at once,” and said that consumers will end up in panic mode trying to buy the last available IC cars, with the ensuing chaos destroying the industry as it exists today. He added, echoing BMW, “Of course, we have to decarbonize, but it has to be done in a technology-neutral way. We mustn’t lose sight of our economy.”
In the current climate, Audi CEO Gernot Döllner is out of step with his peers, in that he supports the 2035 ban and asserts that EVs are simply better. “I don’t know of any better technology than the electric car for making progress in reducing CO2 emissions in transport in the coming years,” he said.Jim Motavalli
Mahle’s Arnd Franz predicts 235,000 lost jobs by 2040 if the ban stays in place.
Arnd Franz, CEO of major European auto supplier Mahle, actually put numbers to the anticipated job loss if the EU stays the course. At the company’s annual press conference in April, he predicted that four out of five auto industry jobs would be lost with a switch to battery-only cars, with 235,000 direct vehicle production jobs gone by 2040.
There’s clearly also dissention within the EU itself. The center-right EPP Group has 188 members from all EU member states in the European Parliament, and its lead negotiator on decarbonizing cars, Jens Gieseke, is in step with the automakers. “We must ensure that driving remains affordable for everyone, not just those who can afford expensive electric cars,” he said. “We should be driven by economic realism and remain technologically neutral. If we do not, driving will become too expensive for many Europeans, and we will lose countless jobs in the automotive industry to competitors like China.”
The environmental community is, not surprisingly, calling on automakers to end their opposition. “It would be shameful if the European Union follows Donald Trump off the climate precipice by killing or wounding their 2035 ban,” said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Meanwhile, China turned out 12 million EVs last year, and because the electrification of the industry is inevitable it’s China that would be the big winner if the automakers succeed in their quest.”
Contributing Editor
Jim Motavalli is an auto writer and author (nine books) who contributes to Autoweek and Barron’s Penta. He has written two books on electric cars, Forward Drive (2000) and High Voltage (2010), and hosts the Plugging In podcast.
Motavalli’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, CBS Moneywatch, Car Talk at NPR, Forbes, US News and World Report, Sierra Magazine, Audubon, and many more. In his spare time, he reviews books and jazz.
The Gas-Powered Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster Aren’t Dead After All
Upcoming electric 718 models will be joined by ICE variants, the automaker revealed in an investor presentation.By Zac PalmerPublished: Sep 24, 2025 8:00 AM EDTSave Article
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As it turns out, the Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman models aren’t going all-electric after all. In a press release sent out at the end of last week in conjunction with an investor presentation, Porsche detailed plans for a strategic “realignment of its product strategy.” A lot of details were spilled, but the most exciting one of all is that Porsche will build “top ICE derivatives” for a new 718 model “towards the end of the decade.”
What does this mean? The information provided, which showed up in a slide deck that was first brought to broader attention by The Autopian, is vague, leaving it open for interpretation—but we suspect it means Porsche will at the minimum offer new GT models of the next-gen 718 with gas engines. Think cars similar to the Cayman GT4, GT4 RS or Spyder and Spyder RS. These 718 models are the “top ICE derivatives” of the outgoing generation, and we’d love to see new versions of them hit the streets.
This new information doesn’t kill the electric 718 models, however. Porsche still fully intends to release and sell electric Boxsters and Caymans, but now customers will be able to choose between electric or gas power for their two-seat Porsche sports car. What remains unclear is if Porsche will expand beyond just the top models when it comes to gas-powered 718s; it’s possible the more affordable models could all be electric, making the ICE variants the most expensive options in the lineup. We can all hope for various powertrain choices at every price point, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Porsche cooks up as we near 2030.Porsche
Beyond the 718s, Porsche said its new flagship SUV positioned above the Cayenne will now launch with combustion engine and PHEV powertrains. This car was previously slated to hit the market exclusively as an EV. Porsche also promises its Cayenne and Panamera will continue to offer gas-only and PHEV powertrains “well into the 2030s.”
What’s the reason for all of these changes? Porsche’s statement says it’s the “company’s response to the significant slower growth of the demand for exclusive battery-electric vehicles.” Porsche CEO Dr. Oliver Blume added that “this increases our flexibility and strengthens our position in a currently highly volatile environment,” and that “we want to meet the entire range of customer requirements.” With Porsche announcing profits expected to come in at just 2% this fiscal year, rather than the 5–7% the brand previously expected, it seems the automaker is pulling whatever levers necessary to keep buyers who may not be keen to go EV just yet intrigued.
From: Road & Track
Associate Editor
A Michigan-born car nut and racing enthusiast, Zac Palmer is probably somewhere talking about or thinking about cars. He bought his first when he was still 15, a 2001 Acura Integra GS-R that still resides in the garage today. It’s now joined by a 2004 Porsche Boxster S, and there will surely be even less practical additions to follow. Palmer worked at both Autoweek and Autoblog before joining R&T.
