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End of the ban on the sale of diesel and gasoline cars? New political decisions confirm it

The future of combustion vehicles, which include gasoline, diesel, and also hybrids, seems to be getting less bleak every day. The world was heading irremediably towards its end, with new environmental regulations that generally set a final sales ban date on the horizon: 2035. However, almost overnight, everything seems to have changed, and doubts are already hovering around its possible continuation.

Just a month ago, we told you how new interventions in the European Union advocated for the definitive elimination of the ban on the sale of combustion cars starting in 2035, initially set by the European Parliament. Early this morning, a new political decision has shaken up one of the most ambitious and advanced environmental plans in the world. The United States Senate has halted the end of gasoline car sales that California had also set for 2035.

California's gasoline car sales ban halted...In an unprecedented decision, Senate Republicans, the party governed by US President Donald Trump, have voted to revoke California's historic ability to govern itself regarding automobiles and to set its own environmental rules. This means that the measure intended to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles in the US state is now up in the air.

Through a controversial vote of 51 to 44, California's environmental agenda was overturned by the Republican-majority Senate, thus halting the initiative that already banned the sale of gasoline cars in California by 2035, which has also been replicated by 11 other US states. Pressure from major manufacturers such as General Motors and Toyota reportedly led Republicans to hold this vote, seeking to halt a measure that was expected to be detrimental to the interests of the powerful automotive industry.

The Senate initiative has created a stir among the Democratic caucus that advocated for maintaining these environmental plans, asserting that the vote represents "a major setback, not only for California, but for all the states that have adopted California's clean air standards," acknowledged Senator Adam Schiff, a Democratic Party member from California. "It means we will fall even further behind other countries in the adoption of new electric vehicle technologies," he concluded during his remarks.

With these federal plans to ban the sale of gasoline-powered cars blocked by a new Congressional Review Act, California Governor Gavin Newson himself has been very harsh in asserting that "the United States Senate has a choice: cede dominance of the American auto industry to China and clog our children's lungs, or follow decades of precedent and maintain the clean air policies Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon fought so hard for. Will you side with China or the United States?", a clear allusion to Donald Trump's new policies.

Europe could also delay the ban on the sale of diesel, gasoline, and hybrid cars. But this decision by the US Senate is not unique. As we have been reporting for the past month, the European Commission is also reportedly considering the possibility of gradually phasing out this EU-wide ban on the sale of internal combustion engines, which was initially set for 2035. EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas announced a few weeks ago in Brussels that news on the matter should arrive this year, 2025, and not in 2026, as originally planned.

Manufacturers, suppliers, countries such as Germany and Italy, and even the European People's Party, the largest political group in the European Parliament, have already called for the EU to formally abandon the plan to ban internal combustion engines, with the aim of providing a respite and "preserving the European automotive industry," which is severely affected by the lack of demand for electric cars and fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers, which it faces due to a lack of technology and raw materials.

For now, the European Union has already made an initial gesture to European car manufacturers in this regard by extending the CO2 emission reduction targets for vehicle fleets, allowing them to be postponed for another three years until 2027, contrary to the initial plan for immediate implementation. In this way, Brussels has avoided the multi-million-dollar fines already anticipated for major manufacturers, which would have left them in a very difficult business situation.

The United Kingdom also delays the sales ban on hybrids and plug-in hybrids...Another major global political player, the powerful United Kingdom, has also reversed its restrictive plans regarding combustion engines in recent weeks, temporarily withdrawing the sales ban on hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, which, like traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles, were already committed to ending in the country by 2030. The sales period for simple hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars will now be extended until at least 2035, as will all light commercial vehicles, these also with diesel and gasoline engines, along with hybrid and plug-in variants. Something is undoubtedly changing...

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