Will Italy And Germany Pull The Plug On E-Cars?

The meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU of member states (COREPER), which was supposed to vote on the EU ban on internal combustion vehicles by 2035, was postponed to an indefinite date, after the Italian representative announced that Rome would veto the decision. Poland and Bulgaria joined the Italian position. Since the German government had already voiced its skepticism, the chances were high that a “blocking minority” (four member states) in the COREPER would have voted down the EU decision.

At present, those governments’ opposition to the 2035 ban is motivated by the social repercussions of the massive layoffs the forced transition to electro-mobility would entail, and by the affordability of e-cars. Their position is: we are not against emissions-free cars, but we propose to achieve it by developing synthetic fuels (“e-fuels”) for use in thermal engines.

“The success of E-cars depends a lot on how they will be accessible at competitive prices,” Italian Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto said. “The use of renewable fuels compatible with thermal engines will help reduce emissions without demanding impossible economic sacrifices from citizens.” Earlier on, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini had argued that the transition “must be accompanied and subsidized: Haste can produce the contrary effect.”

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said Germany had demanded that the EU plan include a proposal for synthetic fuels, but that didn’t happen. “We need a binding answer to the question of how to proceed with internal combustion engines after 2035,” he said on Feb. 28. Those statements prompted the Greens to accuse FDP member Wissing of breaking the agreement of the coalition government (SPD, FDP, Greens).

That the EU plan was foolish, was clear from the beginning, especially as it involves a massive increase in electricity demand, while curbing the offer. In addition, the complete electrification of mobility would require finding production materials on another planet, because those on Earth are insufficient.

As explained in the book Dialogues on Climate, published in Italy by 16 prominent Italian scientists and soon to be published in English by EIR, the transformation of the UK’s entire car park alone would require: over 200,000 tons of cobalt (2020 global production was 142,000 tons); over 260,000 tons of lithium carbonate (three fourths of global producton); 7,200 tons of neodymium and dysprosium (the entire global production of the former); 2,400,000 tons of copper (2020 global production was 20,600,000). Not to mention all the material needed to produce the solar and wind parks that are supposed to power the emissions-free economy. If Jonathan Swift were to write Gulliver’s Travels today, he would probably make Brussels the capital of Laputa…