Italians Fighting Back Against EU Combustion Engine Ban

The European Union’s 2035 deadline to ban new combustion engine cars was supposed to be the ultimate play in the push for EVs.

But like so many well-meaning government ideas, it seems to be heading for trouble. Italy, led by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, their Minister of Environment and Energy Security, is already calling the plan "absurd" and grounded in an unrealistic "ideological vision."

And he’s not alone. The Italian government, sensing a future where its beloved auto industry might just collapse, is pushing to re-evaluate this whole EV-mandatory thing by 2025, two years ahead of the EU’s original schedule. The idea that Europe’s auto giants—many of which are still reeling from the past couple of years—could pivot entirely to EVs in just over a decade is a stretch, to put it mildly.

As much as the EU loves its clean-energy rhetoric, the actual reality is hitting harder. Volvo doesn’t think it can stick to its plan of phasing out gas engines by 2030 anymore, and even powerhouses like Mercedes, Ford, and Porsche are scaling back their all-electric ambitions. Part of the issue? A cooling off in EV demand. European consumers aren’t exactly rushing to their nearest dealership to go all-electric—especially as EV subsidies dry up and concerns about battery costs and longevity rise.

Add to this the fact that China’s flood of cheap electric cars is keeping competition fierce. The European carmakers are feeling the pinch, and if this 2035 ban goes ahead, the equation changes entirely. Without Europe in the ICE game, car manufacturers have to completely rethink how to sell to the rest of the world. No more scale, no more easy profits.

In a way, it’s kind of ironic. The EU wanted to lead the charge into an electric future, but in doing so, it might be pushing its most iconic carmakers into oblivion. The old aphorism is true after all, the road to hell really is paved with good intentions.

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