In 2022, the European Union finalized plans to effectively ban sales of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. However, those plans weren’t so final after all since Germany and other EU members with big car industries pressured the legislators to relax the law and prolong the ICE’s life by using synthetic fuels. That happened in 2023.
Now, BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse issues a warning. Even if sales of new cars running on eFuels are going to be permitted past the middle of the next decade, the outcome could be the same–a de facto ban on combustion-engined cars. That would have huge ramifications across the world since many of the major automotive players are based in Europe.
“There are currently many indications that the EU Commission is striving for a bogus solution in which the ban on combustion engines is relaxed simply by ostensibly opening up to eFuels. However, if it then does nothing to accelerate the ramp-up of low-CO2 fuels and make their use practicable, this would be a deliberate ban on combustion engines through the back door.”
Unlike most of its competitors, BMW has been hesitant to set a cutoff date for combustion engines. While archrivals Mercedes and Audi have recently relaxed their EV goals, the Munich-based automaker insists the ICE’s death should not be forced. Speaking during a conference call after the company published its half-year report, Zipse said: “We continue to believe that a categorical ban on combustion technology is wrong.”
This statement comes from a company that’s actually selling more EVs than ever before. Through the first six months of the year, the BMW Group’s purely electric cars accounted for 15.7 percent of all deliveries. That’s up from the 12.6 percent EV share achieved in the same period of 2023. Deliveries of zero-emission BMWs, Minis, and Rolls-Royces jumped by 24.6 percent to 190,614 units through June.
Zipse believes the regulators shouldn’t rush the combustion engine’s demise. Instead, he argues the EU should encourage the adoption of low-CO2 fuels as soon as possible. Not just for newly built cars but also for the existing fleet. BMW’s boss mentions there are over 250 million cars in the 27 countries part of the EU.
“The most impactful contributions to climate protection are those we can make today: In other words, every tonne of CO2 we can save today–not sometime in the future–counts. This also entails demanding and promoting the use of low-CO2 fuels like e-fuels, E25 or HVO100–as quickly and as widely as possible.”
In case you’re unfamiliar with those two types of fuels mentioned, E25 contains 25 percent ethanol and 75 percent gasoline. As for HVO100, it’s a fossil-free hydrotreated vegetable oil produced from entirely renewable sources like cooking oil. BMW’s hydrogen partner Toyota is selling the Land Cruiser and Hilux in Western Europe with diesel engines that are compatible with HVO100. Toyota claims that if the fuel is made from used cooking oil, CO2 emissions are up to 90 percent lower compared to regular diesel.
As much as BMW is defending combustion engines, it projects the rise of EVs will continue in the coming years. It still believes purely electric vehicles will account for at least half of its annual sales by the end of the decade. BMW Group brands Mini and Rolls-Royce have pledged to go fully electric around that time, leaving only the core BMW brand with ICE cars in its lineup.
A few months ago, BMW sold its one-millionth EV, some 11 years after the quirky i3 hatchback kicked off the EV trend in Bavaria. The remainder of this decade will be extremely busy since at least six Neue Klasse-based models are scheduled to go on sale by 2028. In addition, reports state there will be iX5, iX6, and iX7 electric SUVs underpinned by the same CLAR architecture utilized by the gasoline/diesel luxobarges.