Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said that e-fuels, which have received an exemption from policymakers in Brussels to the EU’s 2035 zero-emissions target for new cars, will not “significantly” change the trajectory of the auto industry.
“We are well on our way to deliver the electrification that is expected from the EU,” Tavares said at Stellantis’ first “Freedom of Mobility” forum, which the automaker hopes will be an annual event.
The forum on Wednesday addressed the question of whether “safe, clean and affordable” mobility would be limited to the “happy few” in the future because of rising costs.
Tavares said that Stellantis’ decisions regarding electrification in the coming years were made in 2014-15, soon after he became CEO of PSA Group, which merged with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2021 to form Stellantis.
The EU has agreed to a demand from Germany and other countries to allow cars that run on e-fuels to be sold after a 2035, when all new cars must be carbon neutral. E-fuels can be processed from carbon dioxide with sustainable energy sources, although critics say the process is expensive and diverts energy needed for other uses.
“I think e-fuels will be another technology direction that is going to be developed,” Tavares said. “The industry will have to demonstrate that they are carbon neutral, from the capturing of carbon on one side and the emissions of carbon from the engine on the other.”