Today Europe, tomorrow California?
Europe's plan to phase out the sale of new combustion-engine cars by 2035 could be pushed back, said Porsche AG Chief Financial Officer Lutz Meschke.
"There's a lot of discussions right now around the end of the combustion engine," Meschke said Thursday in Singapore. "I think it could be delayed."
A slowdown in EV orders has thrown into question whether the European Union is on track for the phaseout, which represents one of the most ambitious efforts to curb carbon emissions. The region's consumers have been put off by a lack of reliable charging networks, persistently high prices and the rollback of EV incentives. The UK has already postponed its planned ban of new gasoline and diesel models by five years to 2035.
During European Union elections in the summer, right-wing parties are expected to return to power as their numbers (especially populist parties) are growing. Consequently, the groundwork is being laid to delay or even scrap banning the internal combustion engine like the E.U. did piecemeal two years ago.
The slump in electric vehicle sales due to a lack of consumer demand is largely why auto manufacturers haven't been able to move their products. None the less, pushing electric vehicles is part of the political elite's NetZero plans and NetZero-based policies are why farmers across Europe are protesting too.
Europeans never demanded electric vehicles and, consequently, car manufacturers never made them. Even when European elites tried to promote and even force electric vehicles on people, consumers still rejected them. In a free society, people remind elected officials who is ultimately in charge using not only their votes, but also their wallets. The United States is going through something similar to Europe and the results are very similar.
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