Italian officials want the European Union to review the plan end the sale of new internal combustion vehicles in 2035 ahead of schedule.
“The ban must be changed,” Italian energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin told Automotive News Europe last week on the sidelines of the TEHA business forum in Cernobbio, on the shores of Italy's Lake Como. calling it “absurd” and decided by “ideological perspective” and said that the changes were necessary to deal with the different realities in the market caused by the decline of the European car industry.
Ferrari e-building
Adolfo Urso, Italy's industry minister, said a planned mid-term review of progress in meeting tougher emissions rules supporting indoor fire bans should be continued from 2026 to next year, declaring the EU needed a “realistic vision” for the future. of the automobile industry.
Italy's current right-wing government of Giorgio Meloni wants EU member states to do so have more freedom in the technology used to meet the goals of reducing emissions, and gradually moving away from combustion engines, notes Automotive News Europe. Other markets in Northern Europe and Scandinavia don't need more time for the transition, however, as they are already at the cutting edge of plug-in vehicles.
Ferrari e-building
The 2035 end date for internal combustion was first proposed in 2021, with significant reductions in emissions en route to that goal. But that policy was softened in 2023 after Germany successfully lobbied loophole for cars that burn e-fuels. These synthetic fuels are billed as having lower carbon emissions than gasoline or diesel, and are viewed by some automakers—including Italy's Ferrari—as the savior of internal combustion vehicles.
The US has it there is no national plan to phase out combustion engines. Current emissions regulations could lead to a 67% drop in EV sales by 2032, regulators estimate, but could also be repealed if the Republican Party takes power in the next election. California has enacted its own tough emissions rules by 2035 that will end the sale of most combustion engine vehicles, except for 50-mile plug-in hybrids.