German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke out against the EU’s current goal of phasing out new cars with internal combustion engines by 2035, with only new full-electric vehicles being allowed to be registered by that date.
Merz was speaking at a summit with other German political leaders and key representatives of the country’s struggling car industry.
“There won’t be such a hard cutoff in 2035 if I have anything to do with it, and I will make every effort to achieve it,” Merz said in Berlin.
Activists from Greenpeace and Fridays for Future waited outside the Chancellery in Berlin on Wednesday, protesting as top politicians and auto executives gathered for talks.
Social Democrat coalition partners also signal willingness to change targets
Deputy Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, who is a member of the Social Democrats and therefore the key representative of Merz’s junior coalition partner, had also indicated a willingness to change the plans.
In particular, he cited plug-in hybrids, so-called range extenders (an electric motor with a fraction of the fuel needed to power a conventional engine and a fuel-powered generator used to boost the battery pack) and cars that use innovative fuel blends.
Both Merz and Klingbeil also stressed plans to continue and intensify incentives for electric car buyers. These include continued road tax rebates and a new scheme to incentivize purchases, which he said would suit lower-income car buyers, with electric cars still more expensive than average and China’s cheapest cars subject to heavy tariffs in the EU.
Germany is trying to boost its famous car industry, which is struggling with the transition to electric motoring along with increasing competition from China, declining demand for cars in Europe in general, new barriers to trade in the US and China, and many other issues.
A recent study found that more than 50,000 jobs in the car sector will be lost in Germany in 2024.
EU already reviewing all-electric target amid doubts over feasibility
The EU has set a target of not registering any new fuel-powered cars by 2022 until 2035. Many industry leaders have expressed doubts over the feasibility of the proposal.
The EU itself was already rushing to review the policy plan, perhaps with a view to compromise.
Electric cars are more expensive than petroleum-fueled vehicles, they have severe limitations such as range and charging time. Furthermore, long-term issues such as the real-world lifetime of their battery packs, the cost of replacement, and the environmental costs of disposal or recycling are still only partially understood.
Their market share is increasing in Germany with the help of incentive schemes, but still only 19% of new car registrations in August this year were BEVs (battery electric vehicles, such as those still to be allowed in 2035), according to the Cleantechnica specialist news site. Another 11.6% were plug-in hybrids. Most of these cars are also in the higher price bands, out of reach for many consumers.
How other German politicians and lobby groups responded
Katharina Droge, co-chair of Germany’s Greens, criticized Thursday’s announcement, saying it effectively doomed the legislation at the EU level.
“Merz and Klingbiel are actually canceling the end of the internal combustion engine in the EU in 2035,” Droge said. “This is a fatal and short-sighted decision, which is bad for jobs in the car industry and terrible for climate protection.”
He said withdrawing from the plans would upset consumers and investors alike and accused the government of endangering the car industry by “artificially” keeping old technologies alive.
However, perhaps the Greens’ most successful and long-serving politician, Winfried Kretschmann – state premier of Baden Wurttemberg, home to both Mercedes and Porsche – welcomed the decision, saying, “The goal of 100 percent electromobility is not achievable until then.”
“Hybrids will be needed temporarily as a bridging technology,” he said.
The state head of Lower Saxony, home of Volkswagen, also welcomed the news.
“Now this was a good car summit,” Social Democrat Olaf Lies said at a regular German meeting of politicians and businessmen, which has a reputation for ending with more whimpers than fear.
He said it is important to continue promoting electric vehicles and also argued that hybrid vehicles should play a role for much longer than the decade currently anticipated.
The chairwoman of the IG Metall trade union said the auto summit “has given us some confidence,” adding that the dramatic situation in the industry has shown the need to speak up and confront Brussels.
A group of companies whose name can be translated as Climate Economy (climate economy) was more critical of the plans.
Sabine Nellinger, chairwoman of the group, said: “Instead of banging the drum loudly for German electric cars, this debate over green fuels and range extenders is driving undecided car buyers away and losing their passion for electric motoring.”
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