As sales and production of electric vehicles in Europe lag behind, a blame game has emerged between carmakers and policymakers. “A regulatory framework that ignores customer needs and market realities, while failing to create the conditions necessary for alternative technologies, cannot succeed,” a BMW spokesman said in a written statement to WIRED, explaining that the company opposes the 2035 ban r. He added that if “charging infrastructure, availability of renewable energies and access to raw materials” are not addressed, the ban will result in a contraction of “the entire vehicle market.”
Given that the automotive industry is hiring 13.8 million people across Europe and accounts for around 7 percent of the continent’s GDP, such a reduction would be economically catastrophic.
Low car sales have already prompted Volkswagen to announce plans to close the plant at least three factoriescausing concern in Germany about the country’s economic prospects. The far-right political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is currently second place in the polls ahead of Germany’s early general elections in February 2025, does not support a ban on combustion engines and has made the perceived economic costs of environmental policy a key element of its message.
“Let’s be honest – consumers simply do not believe in electromobility,” says Beatrix Keim, director of CAR Automotive Research Center. “Vehicles are perceived as too expensive, people are concerned about battery safety as well as charging costs.” He believes that both politicians and industry have a role to play in changing this situation, both through subsidies and investment in infrastructure such as charging solutions, and by creating cheaper vehicles. “These could be tactical pricing, discounts, rebates or just outright price reductions, which of course need to be balanced against financial gains,” he says. “But overall, they are [both] we need to make society better understand e-mobility and dispel some myths, such as battery safety.”
In an attempt to keep their factories and technologies alive, some European carmakers have introduced the concept of “clean” fuels as a way to continue selling combustion engine cars beyond the 2035 deadline. Germany is at the forefront of this, a successful campaign in 2023 exclusion of vehicles powered by “e-fuels” from the ban. E-fuels, which are still in the research and development stage, are made from combining hydrogen and carbon dioxide and, according to their supporters, emit significantly fewer emissions than gasoline.
However, not all industry experts are convinced. “E-fuels are complete nonsense,” says Peter Mock, managing director for Europe of the International Council on Immaculate Transport. “The performance of these fuels is terrible, which means prices are very high and will remain so.” He further believes that talk of alternative fuels is misleading to consumers, which could further harm sales of electric vehicles. “Electric vehicles are simply the most efficient, cheapest and most convenient means of transport, and we need to communicate that,” he says.
Of course, the ban from 2035 will only apply to European Union countries, while car manufacturers on the continent will continue to sell globally. One solution may be a shift towards US markets, where there are forecasts for electric vehicle sales during Trump’s presidency already cut.