A final goodbye to the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2035, the EU says with the final approval today by the European Parliament of new CO2 emission reduction targets as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package.

By 340 votes to 279 with 21 abstentions, MEPs approved the agreement reached with the Council on revised CO2 subsidy standards for new cars and vans, based on the EU’s higher climate targets . The legislative text will now have to be approved by the EU Council, a purely formal act, before being published in the EU’s Official Journal.

The new legislative text approved by the European Parliament foresees the obligation for new cars and new light commercial vehicles to produce no CO2 emissions from 2035. Specifically, the aim is to reduce CO2 emissions by 100% compared to 2021 .

The new rules also set interim emissions reduction targets for 2030: 55% for cars and 50% for semi-trucks.

The regulation also provides for certain exceptions:

Manufacturers that produce a small number of vehicles in a calendar year (ie 1,000 to 10,000 new cars or 1,000 to 22,000 new pickup trucks) are eligible to opt out of these rules until the end of 2035. That’s a year behind the rest of the industry. Those registering fewer than 1,000 new vehicles per year will continue to be exempt after this deadline.

Excludes used cars. In 2035 traditional cars will still be around, they just won’t be able to be produced new.

In addition, the existing zero- and low-emission vehicle (ZLEV) incentive scheme rewards those manufacturers who sell more such vehicles (with emissions between 0 and 50g CO2/km, such as electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids with good performance) by allowing them to be subject to to lower CO2 reduction targets. This mechanism will be adjusted based on expected sales trends. From 2025 to 2029 the ZLEV benchmark is set at 25% for new car sales and 17% for new pickup trucks. From 2030 this incentive will be abolished.

From the end of 2025, the European Commission will publish every two years a report in which it will assess the progress made in relation to the target of zero emissions in road transport.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) points out in a statement that the approval of the new regulation will result in a ban from 2035 on the sale of traditional vehicles with an internal combustion engine, making the EU the first and only region in the world where cars will become fully electric.

It is also pointed out that thanks to the industry’s continued investment, in 2022 more than one in five new cars sold in the EU will have a plug. The European market is set to take the lead in the rest of the world by 2030, when the share of battery electric cars is expected to exceed 70%. “All the efforts and investments of the automotive industry are geared towards zero-emission mobility. It is important that all EU policies and regulations align with and support this goal,” said ACEA Director General Sigrid de Vries.