The European Union is set to vote to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, replacing them with electric cars , and five countries plan to push to delay the transition to electric cars by just five years.
Europe is currently drawing up plan to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.
A big part of achieving this goal is decarbonizing the transportation industry , and the European Union has pushed ahead with a plan to ban sales of new gasoline and diesel vehicles and shift to electric cars by 2035.
The ban on electric cars is currently being finalized with an apparent consensus on it earlier this month, but now five countries are reportedly planning to oppose it and are asking for a five-year delay: Portugal, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania want to delay a European Union plan to effectively ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 by five years,wanting only electric cars , according to a document seen by Reuters.
The way the rule is designed requires a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035, which would mean banning fossil fuel-powered vehicles and allowing only zero-emission vehicles, such as electric cars.
According to the leaked memo, these five countries are instead calling for a 90% CO2 emissions from new car sales by 2035 and moving the target to 100% by 2040.
Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania cite "significant differences" in purchasing power between EU as a reason for delaying the electric car sales
The rule is expected to be finalized next week, and it is unclear whether the objection from these countries will have an impact.
These "bans" on vehicles that use gasoline and diesel often scare the public because they often miss the fact that it only affects new car sales.
It's just about ensuring that no new fossil fuel-burning are on the road and only electric cars are on the road, so that existing ones can be retired over a period of 15 years, which is roughly the lifespan of a car.
At Electrek, we believe these bans primarily serve as some kind of broader incentive for automakers to move forward with the EV. As for actual demand for gasoline or diesel-powered vehicles, we think it will fall to near zero well before 2035.
I understand the concern of these countries about the cost of purchasing electric cars, but I believe that by 2035 only new electric cars will make economic sense anyway when calculating operating costs and resale value.
