From 2035, No New Petrol or Diesel Cars in EU, Unless You Want a Bugatti or Lamborghini

Last week, the European Parliament voted in favour of a total phase-out of combustion engines by 2035. In other words, you will then no longer be able to buy new cars that run on diesel or petrol. Unless you drive a very expensive Lamborghini or Bugatti.

The exception clause, which has since been approved, was mainly due to the Italian members of parliament. They have so vehemently defended Amendment 121 in the European Parliament that it is now called the ‘Ferrari’ amendment.

According to the general rule of the plan, the average CO2 reduction should be 55% for all cars by 2030. And by 2035, new cars that run on diesel or petrol will no longer be allowed to be sold.

But an exception clause already provides that top models fall outside the new rule. Not the Mercedes, BMWs or even Porsches. The Lamborghinis, the Rolls-Royces and the Bentleys. Those heavy consumers may continue to run on petrol for a while after 2035. After all, models that sell less than 10,000 cars per year will be given another year of postponement.

Ferrari sold about 11,000 cars last year. Yet they are fully engaged in the switch to electricity. “100 percent electric and hybrid models should represent 60 percent of production by 2026 and 80 percent by 2030,” Ferrari’s new CEO Benedetto Vigna announced this week. Still, they hope to be able to take advantage of the rule.

Lamborghini sold 8,405 cars last year, so they will get a postponement. The same goes for Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Models, where fewer than 1,000 cars roll off the production line per year, will have a little longer to make the big switch. It, therefore, concerns special models, such as the Bugatti Chiron with a top speed of 420 km per hour and a price tag of around 2.4 million euros, without VAT. However, this car does not drive environmentally friendly at all with a consumption of 21.3 litres per 100 kilometres.