VW says e-fuels “complete nonsense”, and combustion engine will be dead by 2035

German car giant Volkswagen has conceded that the era of combustion engine vehicles will be over by 2035, despite all the “unnecessary noise” surrounding the German government’s late push for e-fuels exemptions.

In an interview with Automotive News Europe, Volkswagen brand chief Thomas Schäfer was asked what he thought the amendments that allows exemptions for e-fuels exemption to the EU’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2035.

“That’s unnecessary noise from my point of view,” he said.

“By 2035 [combustion engines] are over anyway. We said by 2033 we’re done. By 2030 we plan that 80 percent of our vehicles sold in Europe are battery electric, so why spend a fortune on old technology that doesn’t really give you any benefit?”

Automotive News Europe also asked who’s behind the German position? Party politics? VW Group CEO Oliver Blume?

“It’s not Mr. Blume behind it. I guarantee that. This discussion around e-fuels is widely misunderstood. They have a role to play in existing fleets, but won’t replace EVs. That’s complete nonsense. Look at the physics of making e-fuels. We don’t have enough energy as it is, so why waste it on e-fuels?” said Schäfer.

The EU was set to finalise its plan to completely phases out petrol and diesel cars by 2035 but there was a last minute proposal to allow an e-fuel exemption from Germany and Italy.

The e-fuel amendment was highly criticised by environment groups because it would essentially create a loophole for car manufacturers to continue selling petrol cars that also run on e-fuels.

E-fuels loophole may be inconsequential

But it may not matter. An analysis from European clean transport campaign group Transport & Environment shows that not only is powering vehicles on e-fuels much more expensive than powering them with electricity, it’s way more expensive than petrol.

T&E’s research shows that the average german driver could be spending a staggering €210 ($A340) to fill up their vehicle with e-fuels. And it seems Volkswagen’s brand chief agrees.

E-fuels just don’t stack up against running cars purely with electricity because it takes much more energy input to make e-fuels than the equivalent energy needed per km to run EVs. Hence the astronomical costs.

And with new vehicle emissions standards announced by the US government this week, it appears the future of petrol and diesel cars is sealed as manufactures will now be forced to retool to make EVs.

With Europe, China and the US all now moving aggressively to phase out polluting petrol and diesel cars, there have also been strong calls for the Australian government to follow.

Manufacturers now see where the future is heading

Manufacturers too now know that petrol and diesel cars days are numbered. This week Hyundai Motor Group announced its goal to become one of the world’s top 3 EV manufacturers by 2030.

The Korean car manufacturer, which also owns the Kia and Genesis brands, says that it will invest KRW 24 trillion ($A24 billion) by 2030 on increasing production and exports as well as fostering EV-related industries.

While Hyundai was only the 9th biggest automaker in the world based on sales, Korean carmakers have been faster to move than others. In Europe, Volkswagen too is moving faster to transition than its fellow German brands.

With Thomas Schäfer saying the world’s second largest automaker will be pretty much done with combustion engine vehicles by 2035, the race is now on to see who’ll still be standing by then.