BMW boss Oliver Zipse is critical of how the European Union is tackling the environmental problem.
For car manufacturers, it is still a bit five to twelve at the moment. Sooner rather than later, we want to make cars as clean as possible in order to eventually build completely emission-free cars. Especially now that the EU is talking about a ban on combustion engines by 2030. Although that quickly became 2035. And who knows if that is feasible. Many car brands, including Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen and other major players, promised to have developed their latest ICE and to focus entirely on EVs. BMW was always a bit more reserved and, for example, could not promise when they would stop burning petrol.
Oliver Zipse is critical
Oliver Zipse, the big boss of BMW, sees something coming and warns the EU. For example, more attention should be paid to the direct introduction of e-fuels. To start with fuels that drastically reduce pollution, such as E25 (25 percent bio-ethanol instead of the current 10 percent) and HVO100 (diesel with up to 90% emission reduction).
However, Zipse warns that e-fuels are not the solution. “E-fuels should not be the be-all and end-all when it comes to the energy transition.” For example, e-fuels could help make the existing fleet of petrol and diesel cars cleaner, but EVs (and as it now seems with BMW, hydrogen) would be a better overall solution. So Zipse warns that EU regulation should not become too lax because e-fuels seem like the egg of Columbus, which is now also making the 2035 deadline flexible. According to him, such laxity could result in not solving the environmental problem or even making it worse.
Trade
And now that Zipse is at it, he also criticizes the import tariffs that are now being imposed on Chinese cars. The aim of this is of course to make Chinese cars, which make life difficult for European cars by being much cheaper, more expensive here so that European cars remain attractive. According to Zipse, this will not work in the long term to support European brands. Moreover, you also have the European brands themselves with it: BMW builds certain EVs in China, which then come back here with extra tariffs. And so you hit the European car manufacturers just as hard as the Chinese car manufacturers. Then you can of course look at the reasons that BMW likes to build their EVs in China so much, but that is a vicious circle.
In short: BMW boss Oliver Zipse has his doubts about the reality we’re heading towards. There’s a somewhat tactical undertone here, where Zipse is trying to say that the arrival of e-fuels won’t get in the way of their upcoming Neue Klasse EV range. At least, that’s how it seems. (via BMWBlog)
