ICE cars running on e-fuels escape 2035 EU ban
Ferrari, Porsche upbeat as internal combustion engines may live on indefinitely if they run on e-fuelsGermany has forced through an exemption with the European Union to allow combustion-powered vehicles to continue to be sold well into next decade if they run on carbon-neutral synthetic fuels.
Under the original framework, all combustion-engined cars were set to be banned from 2035, with only manufacturers selling fewer than 1000 vehicles a year allowed some leniency.
Now, global car-makers such as Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini will benefit from plans to exempt cars that run on e-fuels from the 2035 deadline.
According to reports, Germany’s transport ministry threatened to veto the entire EU legislation aimed at slashing emissions from cars to effectively zero from 2035, unless the e-fuel exemption was granted.
Italy tried to include biofuels within the legislation but failed to win support and didn’t have enough votes to prevent the legislation from stalling.
Porsche has been prominent in its lobbying for e-fuels, having already opened its own synthetic fuel plant in Chile and confirming a second Tasmanian-based facility would open in 2026 and produce up to 100 million litres of the carbon-neutral fuel per year.
Many within the EU attempted to block the e-fuel exemption on the basis that they currently require more energy to produce on a per-kilometre basis compared to a battery-electric car.
Synthetic fuels also still produce tailpipe emissions that are harmful in towns and cities.
The new legal loophole is still for “small volume manufacturers” that will include the likes of Ferrari and Porsche but not giant brands such as Volkswagen.
“The good news for us as a company … is that on top of electric cars, we’ll also be able to go on with our internal combustion engine ones,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna told Reuters.
“This decision is very interesting for us because it allows ICEs to go beyond 2036.”
In 2022, Ferrari declared confidently that even with the approaching EU ban, 20 per cent of all the cars it made post-2030 would be powered by a combustion engine.
It’s not known if the famous Prancing Horse brand will now review that figure following confirmation of the exemption.
Related: Europe looks to allow e-fuel in new cars after 2035
Related: Europe gives hypercars a CO2 pass
Related: Confirmed: Europe to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2035
Related: Tasmanian e-fuel to power Porsche cars from 2026
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