However, in March, following lobbying from Germany, the EU agreed to allow the continued sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) cars in the EU from 2035, as long as they are running on e-fuels.
E-fuels are made from CO2 captured from the atmosphere and hydrogen, and only emit the CO2 and hydrogen that were initially captured. Therefore, as long as the energy to produce e-fuels is from renewable resources they are deemed carbon neutral.
The integration of e-fuels into the EU’s plan to reduce emissions from transport is likely to be welcomed by sports car manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini where their combustion engines are almost interlinked with the brand. However, in their current form, e-fuels are prohibitively expensive, with one report from Hydrogen Insight suggesting that E-fuel made from green Hydrogen and CO2 are 100 times more expensive than the petrol equivalent.
Whilst the cost of e-fuels is anticipated to fall dramatically when produced at scale and as the technology develops further, there remain critics who argue that e-fuels require more energy than is needed to power electric vehicles on a per-mile basis, and don't erase local tailpipe emissions, therefore the future of e-fuels is still very much uncertain on a mainstream basis.
As things stand the UK government has not indicated that it will follow suit having previously brought forward the band on sale of ICE cars to 2030. As environmental concerns increase, this would likely be seen as watering down the net zero strategy, however there will likely be continued lobbying from manufacturers to align the UK’s policy with its largest trading partner.
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