We are used to it from the FDP, we also know such tones from the CDU/CSU. Now the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is also entering the discussion about the end of combustion engines in the European Union from 2035. “In the European election campaign, the BSW will demand the reversal of the resolutions and more research into more fuel-efficient combustion engines,” party founder Wagenknecht announced at the weekend at. The planned phase-out of combustion engines has “paved the way for the triumph of Chinese battery cars in Europe” and is “a serious economic policy mistake that will destroy a key industry and a lot of prosperity in Germany.”
Wagenknecht already has an idea of how the combustion engine can survive while meeting European climate goals. “Germany should become the hotspot for a new generation of combustion engines that breaks all efficiency records,” says Wagenknecht. She is convinced that “sustained production of fuel-saving cars” could save hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country.
The automotive industry has long since announced its decision to phase out combustion engines. Corporations such as VW, BMW and Mercedes have been investing billions of euros in the expansion of electromobility for years, and the situation is no different internationally. The fact that electric cars are the future is undisputed in the industry – as is the fact that climate neutrality in transport can hardly be achieved, even with extremely economical combustion engines. “We are in a critical situation,” says auto expert Stefan Bratzel from the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). Politics must provide clear guidance. Manufacturers and suppliers expect combustion engines to be phased out by 2035. Any developments that call safety into question in this regard are therefore poison, according to the expert.
Are the general conditions right?
The EU states and the European Parliament agreed last year to phase out all new cars with combustion engines from 2035. From this point on, only vehicles that do not emit CO₂, as is produced when burning petrol and diesel, will be allowed to be registered in the EU. In particular, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) advocated for an exemption for cars that can only be operated with so-called e-fuels. These are synthetic fuels that can be climate-neutral in their overall balance. However, this requires enormous amounts of green energy, which is why producing relevant quantities is not possible in Germany and is also unrealistic worldwide given the enormous demand.
Before Wagenknecht this week, EPP parliamentary group leader Manfred Weber (“serious industrial policy mistake”) and FDP general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai (“economic policy hara-kiri”) sharply criticized the end of the combustion engine. However, both positions have so far been interpreted less as a complete rejection of the combustion engine phase-out than as an offensive promotion of the exception for e-fuels – and as a sharpening of the profile in the European election campaign. In any case, the responsible EU committees want to take stock of the drive transition in 2026 and, if necessary, correct the individual intermediate steps until the combustion engine is phased out.
For example, the question will be whether the expansion of the charging infrastructure is progressing quickly enough and what the number of registrations is at EU level. Car expert Bratzel also points out that the end of combustion engines only works if the general conditions such as charging points, car prices and operating costs quickly develop in the right direction.
However, that is not the case: the proportion of electric cars in newly registered vehicles has been decreasing for months; in March it was only 11.9 percent. However, 37.8 percent of new registrations were for gasoline-powered cars and 18.3 percent for diesel vehicles. According to a survey by Targobank, 68 percent of respondents would still prefer a combustion engine to an electric car when buying a car; In 2023 it was 72 percent. A total of around 1.41 million purely electric cars are currently registered in this country. There is still a long way to go before the federal government’s goal of getting 15 million electric cars on the roads by 2030.