Europe banned new gas cars after 2035 — now it’s reconsidering

illustration of EU logo and EV charging

Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius is the eternal optimist, and for good reason. He has long pushed the European Union to roll back its lofty goal of phasing out new internal combustion engine cars, arguing that weakening the rules was a return to pragmatism and not capitulation to opponents of Europe’s green agenda.

His push is working. The rigid deadlines for phasing out combustion engines after 2035 are “no longer feasible,” Källenius told The Verge in a recent interview, given infrastructure bottlenecks and the sluggish adoption of EVs by consumers. More flexibility was needed to protect jobs and competitiveness, give consumers greater cho …

Read the full story at The Verge.