Overview
- The Economy Ministry is promoting e‑fuels to allow new combustion‑engine registrations after 2035, while the Climate Ministry says passenger cars should shift to more efficient electric drivetrains.
- An EU proposal would relax the 2035 requirement to a 90% emissions reduction rather than 100%, which could permit new combustion models using offsets pending a final decision.
- Economy Ministry documents acknowledge there are no market‑ready industrial‑scale e‑fuel plants, that upfront investment would be high, and that production costs would far exceed those of fossil fuels.
- Scientists and industry analyses say e‑fuels require at least five times the electricity of battery EVs and estimate around €1 trillion would be needed to scale production to tens of millions of tonnes.
- Planned supply for road transport is minimal, with roughly 120 projects mostly targeting aviation and shipping and only one German car‑focused plant aiming for 75 million liters by end‑2028, about 0.1% of national road fuel needs.