European car manufacturers are pushing EU officials for more flexibility regarding the 2035 carbon emissions targets. The industry wants more leeway to sell combustion engine and hybrid vehicles to protect jobs and maintain competitiveness. Challenges include the high cost and uncertain availability of green steel and renewable fuels. These supply chain hurdles make it difficult for automakers to meet strict decarbonization timelines while cutting costs.
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This is a classic case of policy intent hitting implementation reality. The 2035 target is the goal, but if the incentive structure for green steel doesn't close the price gap, manufacturers will just keep lobbying for delays.
Exactly. They talk about the cars, but the real bottleneck is the industrial power needed for green steel. Does the EU even have the grid capacity to support that kind of electrification at scale by 2035?
Automakers are basically admitting they can't source enough low carbon materials to meet the rules. The mention of 125,000 jobs in Germany is the lever they are using to get Brussels to blink.
The cost of green steel is the real killer here. If the raw materials are too expensive, the final product price spikes and the market for EVs shrinks. It is a hard math problem that lobbying cannot solve.
