The EU Has Officially Scrapped Its 2035 Combustion Ban

Some news out of Europe to warm the hearts of petrolheads everywhere this festive season: the European Union has officially scrapped its planned ban on internal combustion engined cars in 2035, pending the likely approval of the new rules by the European Parliament in January.

The rules have been amended by the European Commission following lobbying from various carmakers based on the continent, for whom the planned ban combined with slower-than-predicted EV uptake and a new breed of affordable rivals from China and other countries represented a major economic hurdle.

However, don’t expect the scrapping of the rules to suddenly lead to a new wave of V8s and V10s for European manufacturers – there’ll still be strict targets to meet. Under the now-scrapped plans, manufacturers would have had to have reduced CO2 emissions at the tailpipe by 100 per cent – in other words, eliminate them entirely.

While that target’s now been relaxed, it’s not by much: 90 per cent is now the goal, meaning EVs will still play a significant role, and any petrol or diesel cars remaining on sale will need to be ultra-clean. The Commission says that synthetic fuels, e-fuels and the use of low-carbon European steel will need to be used to compensate for the remaining 10 per cent.

The EU is also pushing ahead with its proposed ‘M1E’ class of small, affordable electric cars, which will provide incentives for companies to produce such models in Europe in an effort to kickstart slumping new car sales on the continent. Early reports on this class have often likened it to Japan’s kei car category, but the EU’s proposed rules for it will allow larger cars of up to 4.2 metres length to be included in it, which would also encompass models like the Renault 5, VW ID Polo/Cupra Raval twins and the various small Stellantis EVs like the Peugeot 208 and Jeep Avenger.

There is, of course, a very big asterisk hanging over all of this if, like most of our readers, you live in Britain, which is no longer part of the EU. While the UK remains aligned with Europe on most transport policy matters, it’s taken its own approach to the phasing out of combustion cars.

Currently, all pure-combustion new cars are planned to be banned from 2030, and hybrids from 2035, with a mandate in place that sees manufacturers hit with fines if an increasing annual amount of their UK sales aren’t made up of EVs. Whether the relaxation of the rules on the continent leads to a change in attitude over here remains to be seen.