We thought that the end of the new thermal cars in Europe was definitely registered for 2035. But in a long interview he gave to the newspaper Les Echos, the European commissioner for the internal market suggests that nothing is set in stone.
Reading this interview, it seems that Thierry Breton he is not quite in the same vein as most MEPs who validated the 2035 hatchet. The former French economy minister apparently fought for a review clause to be included. and he won
It is scheduled for 2026. Thierry Breton does not rule out raising the alarm even earlier. “The questions are very numerous, he warns, and we may have to adapt in 2026, or before 2026, the measures that support the 2035 trajectory.”
“The switch to electric will destroy 600,000 jobs”
These possible adaptations will be discussed with all the stakeholders (large car manufacturers, suppliers, unions, user associations, cities, electricity operators) that the European commissioner intends to meet every three months.
Thierry Breton insists a lot on the many challenges that will have to be faced. He even lists them one by one. Employment: “the switch to electricity will destroy 600,000 jobs”, he recalls. The price of the electric car: “27% more expensive than its gasoline equivalent”.
The European commissioner warns manufacturers: “We must lower this price to make it accessible to all”.
“Batteries will have to meet all of our environmental standards”
It also talks about the raw materials needed to produce the batteries. For the next decade, it will be necessary, he says, “fifteen times more lithium, four times more cobalt, graphite, three times more nickel.” However, we know that in this area, the Chinese have a head start, with supplies well secured.
Thierry Breton assures that the European Union will not allow itself to face this competition. Except he remains vague about how the Europeans intend to do it. He simply explains that “batteries will have to meet all of our environmental standards to have a chance of entering our market. And they will be very demanding.”
According to Thierry Breton, faced with the Chinese, the Europeans will not be powerless. “On batteries alone, know that Europe has spent 3.5 times more than China in the last two years, he argues. All this could cover our battery consumption by 2030. In total, no less than 100 billion in investments have been committed to this end”. .
Do not totally abandon the internal combustion engine
However, the European commissioner does not forget the problem pointed out by Carlos Tavares, the head of Stellantis: the weakness of the electrical infrastructure to charge these cars. “In 2050, 150 GW of electrical energy will be needed to power electric vehicles, 15% more than our current capacity,” warned the CEO of the Italian-American-French manufacturer. And to add:
As for public charging points, the needs are estimated at seven million terminals by 2030. We are only at 350,000”.
But that is not all. Thierry Breton also invites manufacturers not to abandon too quickly the technology that has made them a fortune: the internal combustion engine. “Other continents will experience a much slower transition and will need thermal vehicles that are as clean as possible for a long time,” he stresses while pointing out that “even in Europe, (…) 20% of the automobile fleet in circulation will continue to be thermal in 2050”.
“Therefore, the market for combustion engines will remain very important for a long time outside of Europe. Therefore, we must help our manufacturers to maintain it,” explains the Commissioner.
Help them, without forcing their hand. “I am going to gather, on a voluntary basis, another group of industrialists to define the technologies that must be developed, for example, in fuel chemistry, mechanics, thermocombustion, etc. All of this is the subject of the new Euro 7 standard that I will present next Wednesday.”
But are European manufacturers still capable of meeting these two challenges?
Source: BFM TV
