For those who don’t know, the EU issued a complete combustion engine ban by 2035.
Now, this cornerstone of climate policy has been dumped: automakers are only required to lower their emissions by 90%.
In Germany, for instance (a key player in the car discussion), political hesitation and public skepticism have increasingly watered down the clarity and impact of that goal for quite a while.
Recent polling illustrates the depth of the divide: nearly two-thirds of Germans oppose the ban, while support varies sharply along party lines. As is the case with climate discussion around the globe, polarization has turned the subject into a symbolic battleground rather than a purely technical or economic policy debate.
According to a recent study, opposition to the 2035 ban is strongest among conservative and right-wing voters. Only 4% of Alternative for Germany (AfD) supporters back the policy, while approval is far higher among voters of the Greens (81%) and the Left Party (60%).
Meanwhile, environmental campaigners are furious. Opposition argues that the ban leaves European manufacturers vulnerable to Chinese rivals.
Beyond political framing, practical concerns dominate public opinion. Germans cite two reasons for not considering an electric vehicle (EV): high purchase prices and inadequate charging infrastructure. These issues are particularly acute in a country where a large share of the population lives in apartments without access to private driveways or garages.
Home charging (often presented as a key advantage of EV ownership) is difficult to imagine at scale in dense urban areas, not to mention expensive. Retrofitting apartment buildings with charging ports requires coordination between landlords, tenants, utilities, and municipalities, as well as significant upfront investment…and unlikely commitment.
Meanwhile, critics point out that political wavering influenced by election cycles is incompatible with the timelines of vehicle manufacturing, and leaves Europeans vulnerable to falling behind what is state of the art. In any case, little progress has prevailed under flip-flopping.
Without the binding deadline, it is likely that manufacturers will themselves slow the transition by prioritizing short-term profits from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
An important caveat of the policy is that applies only to the sale of new cars after 2035, not to existing vehicles. However, Germany’s automotive industry remains a major employer and economic pillar, and fears of job losses continue to shape public sentiment.
Debates like that surrounding the combustion engine ban are also shaped by a deeper and recurring illusory perception about the future itself.
Societies have always imagined “tomorrow” as a wondrous utopia: just look at the ideas people had about the year 2000, when we would use flying cars or even be teleported effortlessly.
Reality is much more flawed: the future is built unevenly and through compromise, with half-measures overlapped onto existing systems, patched as they are. The transition is bound to be long and unsteady, and we can still invest in imperfect solutions for the time being.
