On the one hand, you have German carmaker BMW rushing headlong, like almost all the others, into a fully electric lineup of cars and SUVs. On the other hand, you have the European Union bureaucrats in Brussels, whipping them along with one mandate after another.
On reflection, maybe those are both the same hand.
In April of 2023, eurocrats inflicted a new EV diktat on one of the world's largest economies — but also one of the slowest growing and least innovative. Without quite saying so, the goal of Europe's stricture is to force all new car sales to be electric after 2035. Every new car, truck, van, SUV, etc. must be 100% emissions-free.
BMW is well poised to meet that goal. The Bavarian-based carmaker's line already features no fewer than five all-electric vehicles ranging from sporty (the i4) to luxury sedan (i7) to a full-size SUV (XM). While BMW's EVs don't enjoy anything like Tesla's sales, even in Europe, they're generally well-regarded by critics and buyers alike.
So the EU and BMW are two fully charged peas in a pod, right?
Not any longer.
"BMW Group CEO Oliver Zipse said during this year’s Paris Motor Show that the European Union must cancel the upcoming 2035 ban on vehicles that emit carbon dioxide," Inside EVs reported on Wednesday.
I certainly didn't see that one coming, but I'm just as certainly glad to.
One reason for Zipse's turnaround must be due to simple market forces. "In June 2024, the European electric vehicle (EV) market continued its dynamic journey with 294,000 plugin vehicle registrations," the European Commission reported in August. "However, the overall market saw a slight decline of 5% year over year (YoY), contrasting with the general automotive market's modest growth of 4% YoY."
Modestly shrinking sales in a modestly growing market is not a good look for EVs.
Another reason Zipse lost his enthusiasm for the EV mandate is the threat from China. From that Inside EVs report I linked earlier:
"A correction of the 100% BEV target for 2035 as part of a comprehensive CO2-reduction package would also afford European OEMs less reliance on China for batteries," Zipse said at the Paris Motor Show, quoted by Reuters. "To maintain the successful course, a strictly technology-agnostic path within the policy framework is essential," he added.
In other words, BMW Group’s head honcho says the upcoming ban will only force Europe to rely even more on Chinese batteries for making electric vehicles.
Beijing is believed to be heavily subsidizing cheap exports of batteries and sub-$30,000 EVs. The goal is almost certainly to supplant Western automakers if not outright destroy them. Mandates — like Europe's and various U.S. states, starting with California — only help Beijing further its goals.
Zipse knows this. God help Europe if he can't convince Brussels.
There's a real market for EVs, particularly in countries like France where gas and diesel are expensive imports from nasty countries and clean nuclear energy is plentiful. Germany used to have plentiful nuclear energy, but Berlin has taken that country so far down the road to deindustrialization that you have to wonder how long before BMW stops selling cars there and starts selling horses — which, believe me, are not emissions-free.
On the plus side, they wouldn't have to source them from China.
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