Statement EES President Dr Ingo Friedrich, March 27, 2023

After his talks in Brussels, longtime European politician Dr. Ingo Friedrich supports the following development regarding future fuels:

Apparently, there will be a general ban on the new registration of cars with combustion engines from 2035 onwards, but with one important exception: for cars with combustion engines that use so-called e-fuels, i.e. fuels synthetically produced by removing CO₂ from the air, the ban does not apply because these fuels are defined as CO₂ neutral.

That would mean that conventional petrol and diesel vehicles can continue to be built and driven under this premise in the future. This is also important news for the large engines of ships, trucks and airplanes. 

The problem with this "solution" at the moment is the still immensely high price of e-fuels, which is currently in the order of around € 10 per liter. However, initial scientific analyzes indicate that in the course of development over the next few years a price of around €2 per liter can be reached.

This is a decision of central importance, especially for the German car industry with its excellent knowledge of the combustion engine.

Overall, it can therefore be assumed that the following alternative fuel options - also important for future car purchases - will be available to drivers in the future:

- Regular petrol and diesel for all cars registered before December 31, 2033

- E-fuels for all cars with petrol and diesel engines registered starting January 1st, 2034

- Charging stations for electric cars

- Hydrogen filling stations for cars with this drive (whereby the hydrogen feeds the battery of an electric motor via a fuel cell)

So, car life will be a bit more complicated than it used to be.