The confirmation has arrived, the European Parliament has approved the draft regulation that will put an end to the sale of new vehicles with petrol or diesel engine from 2035. And while the ban also includes hybrid cars, there are some that will be able to continue selling models that burn fossil fuels.
While most manufacturers accelerate towards this electric transition across their vehicle ranges, there are some manufacturers of what is known as the “Ferrari amendment”, which will give a longer grace period continue to fit internal combustion engines in their models.
Even if in the end all new vehicles that want to circulate on European routes will have to be 100% electric, small-scale productions will have a differentiated timetable, as will heavy and long-distance transport.
The “Ferrari amendment” will allow manufacturers who build up to 10,000 vehicles a year or fewer than 1,000 different margins for adapting to the new regulations in the Old Continent.
No more petrol or diesel
Last Tuesday, the European Parliament approved the end of the sale of cars with internal combustion engines starting from 2035. The measure was approved with 340 votes in favour, 279 against and 21 abstentions. This also includes hybrid vehicleswhich combine a combustion engine with at least one other electric one.
In turn, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has announced the goal of all city buses to be zero-emission models by 2030, with both electricity- and hydrogen-powered engines.
For heavy transport, however, the proposal is to cut emissions from trucks from January 2030 by at least 45% compared to 2019. This reduction would rise to 65% by January 2035 and reach 90% in 2040.
The “Ferrari Amendment”
But in the midst of this transformation, the “Ferrari amendment” appears in Europe, a sort of moratorium which is popularly known by this name and which will be accepted by two types of manufacturers.
On the one hand, it enables manufacturers with reduced productionbetween 1,000 and 10,000 new units a year, they get a little more leeway than the big manufacturers to adapt to European needs.
Specifically, they will only be able to do this until the end of 2035. In other words, it’s not even that long a term. The same margin is held by small van or utility vehicle manufacturers (between 1,000 and 22,000 new units per year).
On the other hand, brands that produce fewer than 1,000 new vehicles a year they will be the only ones who will be able to continue to sell new petrol or diesel models.
With these rules, this measure would benefit substantially super luxury brandswhich always have very powerful engines, which consume a lot of fuel and, therefore, emit more polluting gases than a conventional model.
To get an idea, the first scale would benefit companies like Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce or Lamborghini.
Interestingly, the company that gives its name to this amendment, is excluded from the benefits due to extraordinary sales in recent years: delivered more than 13,200 vehicles in 2022 and growth is expected over the next few years.
The second scale, which will allow combustion engines to be used even longer, involves manufacturers such as Bugatti, Pagani, Koenigsegg or Morgan, among many others. And in this case we are talking about models that offer more than 1,000 horsepower.
Why was the “Ferrari amendment” born?
In September 2021, the Italian government started negotiating exemptions for avoid a possible disappearance of emblematic producers Faced with the demands proposed by the European Union with its “Fit for 55” plan, which established a reduction in emissions of at least 55% by 2030. It would have been lethal for brands such as Ferrari or Lamborghini.
The request for help contemplated a greater margin of time to adapt to the new needs. Although their models were more polluting than those of mass-market brands, their lower sales volumes gave a lower total. They mentioned that converting their plants in such a short time puts the existence of these producers at risk.
This moratorium is a safe pass for manufacturers who, while selling less in terms of number of units, generate a mountain of money, since they are companies that market their models with prices that They start at $200,000 but can reach several million.
The other added benefit of this measure is that it will allow these companies to continue research to improve combustion engines and further develop the feasibility of synthetic fuels.
While everything appears to be a matter of time, projections suggest that everything will eventually be powered by electricity.
Source: Clarin
Ben Stock is a journalist working for News Rebeat, where he covers the automobile section. With a passion for cars and the industry, Ben brings insightful and in-depth reporting to his readers.
