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Germany Calls For a Ban On Combustion Engine Cars By 2030 (engadget.com)
Germany gave the world the internal combustion engine, and now it is prepping to ban the amazing invention in the country. The country's federal council has passed a resolution to ban the ICE starting in 2030. From an Engadget report:The country's Bundesrat (federal council) has passed a resolution calling for a ban on new internal combustion engine cars by 2030. From then on, you'd have to buy a zero-emissions vehicle, whether it's electric or running on a hydrogen fuel cell. This isn't legally binding, but the Bundesrat is asking the European Commission to implement the ban across the European Union... and when German regulations tend to shape EU policy, there's a chance that might happen. The council also wants the European Commission to review its taxation policies and their effect on the "stimulation of emission-free mobility." Just what that means isn't clear. It could involve stronger tax incentives for buying zero-emissions cars, but it could also involve eliminating tax breaks for diesel cars in EU states. Automakers are already worried that tougher emission standards could kill diesels -- remove the low cost of ownership and it'd only hasten their demise.
This isn't banning ICE engines. Only new cars with them. Also, it won't happen this way. But it surely got people talking and the writing is on the wall anyway.
I'm from Germany and the headline is slightly misleading. We have a parliamentary system with two chambers: the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The former is similar to the US House of Representatives (with the additional duty of electing our chancellor, as we don't directly elect the leader of our executive branch), whereas the second is similar to how the US senate used to be before the passing of the 17th Amendment. In this case, only the Bundesrat called for this (in a non-binding resolution), but there was massive criticism of this from the two largest parties (CDU/CSU and SPD) in the Bundestag that form the coalition of the current federal government. However, in order for the resolution to get a majority in the Bundesrat, some States governed by coalitions consisting of either CDU/CSU or SPD and another party will have had to have voted in favor it.
Also, I don't think EU Commission has the regulatory authority to institute this ban on its own, so if it tries to go forward with the ban, it will have to be in form of an EU directive, which has to be approved by both the EU Parliament and the EU Council. The latter consists of ministers of the governments of all EU countries - including the corresponding minister from the German government, which at least currently opposes this ban.
To me, this reads more like a symbolic gesture from the Bundesrat, so that politicians can pat themselves on the back ("yeah, we've done something about climate change") without actually doing anything, because they well know that this will not actually become law. I might be proven wrong on that, but at the moment I seriously doubt that this ban has a chance of becoming law within the EU - especially because the German government will oppose this. (The German auto industry is still heavily focused on combustion engines, and the infrastructure available for electric cars in Germany is abysmal compared to other places, especially parts of the U.S. such as California. Germany has this reputation of being at the forefront of renewable energies, and that's true if you're talking about power plants and solar panels on homes and the such, but compared to many other first world nations, when it comes to cars Germany is actually severely behind in terms of new forms of fuel; and the traditional auto lobby here is really, really strong.)
Uhhh... You realise that VAG promised last year to have 30 models of fully electric vehicle across their line in only 5 years time. They already have the eGolf, they've announced a fully electric Audi Q6 and A3; Porsche is spending $1bn making a fully electric 911; Skoda has a fully electric SUV under development.
To argue that VW/Audi hasn't realised they need to start to switch is naïve at best, and will fully ignorant at worst.
Have they thought of the implications this has on the trucking industry?
Last I checked, the trucking industry don't use cars, but if you ask Tesla, trucks are ripe for being fully electric and more more cost effective already.
Have they thought what this might do to low-income or fixed-income individuals who can't afford a car and suddenly left without transportation?
Yes - Europe already solved that problem decades ago - it's called public transport.
Where is the electricity or energy to create hydrogen fuel going to come from now that they've banned nuclear and don't want fossil fuels?
It doesn't really matter - even if you assume the worst case scenario (basically, just burn coal out your ears), it's still a way way more efficient scenario than every individual car having a shitty efficiency ICE in it.
It's astonishing to see the success of one little car from a recently tiny American upstart having such an incredible influence on the world. Just that one car being so great has the largest union of nations in the world talking about banning all other cars. It's just very impressive. I suppose the Model S will go down as similar in influence to the Model T. Funny how similar the names are. I wonder if Elon concievably had that in mind.
If I really want a roadtrip I can also hire the car for the roadtrip
This stupid argument comes up every time range is mentioned. You *won't* be able to hire a long-range car for your vacation because everyone else is also trying to hire a car for their vacation. If the rental companies keep enough cars for 90% of the population that only gets used twice a year they'll have to raise rates far beyond what you are prepared to pay.
It's a stupid argument, and you should feel silly for using it!
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.