The Energy Absurdity of the Week: Europe Does A U-Turn on EV Mandate

The Energy Absurdity of the Week: Europe Does A U-Turn on EV Mandate

[Follow me on Twitter at @EnergyAbsurdity]

Ok, so, just to be clear, the absurdity in all this is that Germany and the EU had possessed the unbridled level of hubris to believe they could repeal the laws of thermodynamics, physics and supply and demand and mandate an all-electric vehicle society by 2035, just 12 years from now. But recent events, like the overwhelming vote by Berliners to reject a net-zero by 2030 referendum and the change in EV mandates discussed here, indicate that hubris is starting to unravel.

In moves that gained little notice in the U.S. media, Germany’s government moved on March 21 to abandon its all-EV by 2035 mandates. On March 25, under pressure from both Germany and Italy, a committee of the European Commission (EC) reached an agreement with the two countries to amend its own effort to eliminate the manufacture of new internal combustion engine cars just 12 years hence.

Under the agreement - which still must gain approval from the full EC - auto manufacturers would still be able to manufacture ICE cars, but those cars would only be allowed to run on synthetic fuels. It seems even the most ardent fantasists about energy are beginning to understand that too many roadblocks exist where EVs and their batteries are concerned to hope they can ever be a replacement for ICE cars.