Car at the crossroads – questions and answers about the approaching combustion ban

From the year 2035, newly registered passenger cars in the EU should no longer be allowed to emit harmful exhaust gases. This agreement, which was finally reached at the end of October, amounts to a ban on cars with internal combustion engines. But what does that mean for drivers and consumers in concrete terms? And how should one react to the project now and in the future?

Is the zero-emissions target for 2035 a done deal? The most important hurdles on the way to legislation have been cleared. At the end of October, the negotiators of the member states and the EU Parliament agreed on a corresponding regulation, the entry into force of which is therefore considered certain. Before it can be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers still have to formally adopt the new regulation. However, a refusal or a possible objection by individual member states is not to be expected. In view of the agreement in October, the ban on approval of combustion engines from 2035 will come with a probability bordering on certainty. Even though the EU Commission has taken a neutral stance when choosing the technology to achieve the zero-emissions target, the future of the automobile will probably lie in electric drives. What are the central elements of the upcoming regulation? So that the EU becoming climate-neutral by 2050, according to the overarching goal, CO2-intensive sectors such as transport must contribute to this climate protection measure. Specifically for cars and light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons, the first milestone is a reduction in CO2 fleet emissions by 15 percent by 2025 compared to the 2021 level. Five years later, it should already be 50% in the commercial vehicle sector and 55 percent in the passenger car sector. From 2030, manufacturers will no longer be able to count supercredits granted through the sale of emission-free vehicles when calculating their fleet targets. The final reduction to zero is then planned for 2035. From this point in time, cars registered for the first time will no longer be allowed to emit CO2. After the decisions at the end of October, this regulation is to be reviewed again in 2026. The regulation also includes a request to the EU Commission to review the use of so-called e-fuels. If these synthetic fuels are produced with green electricity, they burn CO2-neutrally, but not without pollutants.Another loophole for combustion engines: There should be exceptions for manufacturers of small series.Do zero CO2 emissions automatically mean a ban on combustion engines?In the main, probably yes, it does As already indicated, there could be exceptions. Vehicles with internal combustion engines will still be able to be on the road in large numbers after 2035, because the zero emissions target initially only affects the new car business. However, new cars with internal combustion engines would also be conceivable in the EU after 2035, provided they are used on private property and are not registered. After all, the possible use of climate-neutral e-fuels and hydrogen combustion engines would still offer the combustion engine a possible future, but one that is not clearly guaranteed at the moment. Is it still advisable to buy a new car with a combustion engine? Who shouldn’t give up on gasoline, diesel or hybrid there will initially be a wide range of corresponding new vehicles, which will, however, shrink sharply by 2035. Like those already registered, passenger cars with combustion engines that will be newly registered in the next few years will also be protected beyond 2035. The zero-emission regulation, which will take effect from 2035, therefore only affects new registrations. So if you invest in a new combustion engine by 2034, you don’t have to worry about having to write off this investment as a total loss in the following year. Trade in and transfer of ownership of used cars that emit CO2 will remain possible after 2035. However, it cannot be ruled out that – possibly well before 2035 – regional driving bans for combustion engines will be imposed, which will then make local use more difficult or impossible. Will e-fuels become the great alternative to petroleum-based petrol and diesel? will play an important role in the decarbonization of society is undisputed. However, based on the current status, it is rather unlikely that they will do this in private cars. There, the significantly higher overall efficiency speaks for the battery electric car. As long as electricity from renewable sources is scarce, e-fuels in cars will compete with other electricity consumers – not only in industry and households, but also in other modes of transport. In addition, according to the current status, e-fuels will be an energy source that is comparatively expensive for consumers. Should I buy an e-car now, or would it be better to wait? Anyone who decides to buy an e-car today is future-proof and also comparatively environmentally friendly. E-cars are still generally more expensive to buy than corresponding models with combustion engines, but when it comes to TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), they often already have an advantage. When considering the total costs, according to a calculation by the ADAC (as of October 2022), some, but not all, e-cars are cheaper. In most cases, the differences are not serious anyway. In recent years, there has been a lot of positive development in the technology of e-cars and the charging infrastructure. Fear of range with current models is therefore less and less an issue. However, in the coming years, electric cars with longer ranges are likely to come onto the market at probably lower prices. In many cases, it can therefore be advisable to continue using a car with a combustion engine for a few more years before switching to an electric car that is better than the current state of the art and also probably more economical and cheaper to buy. Speaking of cheap purchases: In the coming years, the supply and selection of used e-cars will increase significantly. Should I invest in my own charging infrastructure now? Anyone who wants to use a battery-electric car can benefit from their own wall box, for example in the garage parking space. As a rule, the traction current here is cheaper than at public charging stations, and the e-car can usually be easily charged overnight in the garage at home so that it is ready in the morning with a fully charged battery. Nowadays, it is also possible to do without a private charging option in some cases, because in many places there is already a well-developed public charging infrastructure. Hyperchargers can now be found in supermarket parking lots, for example. In many cases, a single refueling while shopping can already cover the electricity requirement for a week. Since the electrical installation and the wall box itself can cost from a few hundred to several thousand euros, it is advisable in some cases not to have a private charging point. Car with bidirectional charging technology. Then, driving current can be refueled at virtually no cost and the e-car can be used as a buffer so that the household can be supplied with solar power stored during the day during the night. With such a setup, the investment in a solar system, wall box and e-car can quickly pay for itself. Will there be an appropriate public charging infrastructure for e-cars in the future? The number of e-cars in EU countries will increase massively in the next few years . The EU Parliament therefore wants more charging stations for e-cars. By 2026, there should be a station for electric cars every 60 kilometers of road across Europe. (Mario Hommen/SP-X)
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