EU plans to ban combustion engines: rental cars and company fleets affected!

EU plans to ban combustion engines: rental cars and company fleets affected!

The EU Commission is planning a comprehensive ban on combustion engines for rental car providers and company fleets by 2030. This means that around 60 percent of the new car business would be affected, while the share of private customers would remain unaffected. A total of 10.6 million vehicles were sold across the EU last year. The new regulation is to be presented in late summer before the parliamentary decision-making process begins. Both the EU Council and the EU Parliament must approve the project.

The EU has already decided on a general ban on new registrations of cars with combustion engines from 2035. In this context, the EPP advocates weakening this definition in order to guarantee openness to technology, which also includes CO2-neutral fuels. The Austrian chancellor's party, the ÖVP, also speaks out against the ban on combustion engines.

Resistance to the project

MEP Markus Ferber has appealed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to drop the plans. Ferber warned that only electric cars would be purchased to meet the quotas. Critical voices also come from the rental car industry: Sixt boss Nico Gabriel described the ban as impractical and highlighted the inadequate charging infrastructure in the EU. Gabriel fears that the costs of rental cars could increase as a result of the new measures.

But the discussion goes beyond the rental car industry. Across the EU, consideration is being given to the impact of phasing out combustion engines on drivers, manufacturers and the environment. The EU has announced that electric cars have lower emissions than their combustion engine counterparts. A comprehensive expansion of the charging infrastructure is also being planned by 2035: charging points are to be installed every 60 kilometers on highways and hydrogen filling stations every 150 kilometers. The investment costs for this are estimated at 15 billion euros.

Market developments and technological openness

Another important fact is that plug-in hybrids may no longer be permitted from 2035. The CO2 tax on fuels will be increased to 55 euros per ton by 2025. Meanwhile, electric car owners benefit from the GHG bonus, which results from CO2 certificates. The EU aims to make the car industry fit for the future, with the phase-out of combustion engines being temporarily postponed.

Manufacturer guidelines should be adjusted so that CO₂ targets must be achieved over a period of three years instead of annually. In order to reduce dependence on raw materials from China, 1.8 billion euros are planned for battery raw materials. In addition, one billion euros will go into promoting future-proof technologies, such as autonomous driving.

However, these developments are not without risk. In the short term, jobs in engine production could be retained, while in the long term there is a risk of site closures. In addition, a potential weakening of the CO₂ rules could seriously jeopardize the reduction of emissions in transport. The use of synthetic fuels (e-fuels) is viewed as inefficient in production due to the uncertainty about their future viability. The CDU and the auto industry are calling for planning security, while the VDA is proposing a phase-out date for fossil fuels from 2045.

Public opinion also shows a partly negative attitude: 44 percent of drivers are against the ban on combustion engines, while only 17 percent support the plans. Political uncertainty remains, especially given calls for improvements from Italy and EU conservatives.