Suisse
It will be difficult to find new cars with internal combustion engines in 2030
The EU has decided to ban petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles in favor of all-electric vehicles after 2035. Switzerland refuses to do so, but it will be impacted anyway.
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What cars will the Swiss be able to buy in 2035? That’s the question
Sabina Bobst/Tamedia
The EU definitively approved on Tuesday the end of combustion engines in new cars from 2035. The text will force new vehicles to no longer emit CO₂, effectively banning petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, in favor of the all electric. The only exception: vehicles equipped with a combustion engine but which run on clean synthetic fuels will remain authorized.
This measure will not be without consequences for Switzerland, even if the National decided in March not to support this decision. We remember that a right-wing majority had refused, during the last spring session, a motion from an elected socialist who wanted Bern to follow Brussels.
Builders are getting ready
But whether or not it refuses to follow the movement, Switzerland will be impacted. Because the Swiss market for new cars will evolve significantly, underlines Saturday the Tages-Anzeiger.
Many manufacturers have already announced that they will abandon the combustion engine sooner than 2035, like Fiat and Opel (in 2028) and Volvo (in 2030). In addition, other manufacturers, such as the American Ford, will continue to produce combustion vehicles, but will only sell electric vehicles in Europe from 2030.
More gasoline cars on the market
Consequence: there will be practically no more new combustion engine vehicles to buy in 2035, according to Marianne Zünd, member of the management of the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). And the electric market will explode.
For now, the EU decision does not affect Swiss law. Because the new law on CO2, currently being debated in Parliament, only regulates climate targets for new cars by 2030. The question now is to decide the fate of vehicles that will run on clean fuel. Because the detractors of e-fuel criticize an expensive production which consumes a lot of electricity (read the box). The left wants to go further than the EU and ban them from 2035. The right and the automotive sector are keen to remain open to new technologies. To be continued.
Synthetic fuels (or “e-fuels”) are produced by combining hydrogen and CO2. For this process to be climate-neutral, the hydrogen must be produced with carbon-free electricity, and the CO2 either captured in the air, industrial fumes or from biomass.
These fuels, courted by car manufacturers, have the same properties as gasoline or diesel. Their main advantage is that they can be used pure or mixed with petroleum, without having to modify the engine. They therefore constitute a powerful lever for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transport and are complementary to biofuels, produced from agricultural residues, waste or used oils.
But these e-fuels are disputed by experts and environmental NGOs, who believe that they are above all a “Trojan horse” of the automotive industry to extend the life of thermal engines and that they risk delaying investments in electrification. It must be said that their energy efficiency is “very low” compared to electricity or hydrogen. In addition, the industrial processes are at the pilot stage, their production is expensive and there will be relatively few,” according to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe). On the other hand, if they are carbon neutral, they still emit nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carcinogenic particles.
(cht)