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unclebucknasty · 2021-11-06 21:27:29

It's not as if they've done nothing on the ICE front--e.g. catalytic converters and zero-emission vehicle tax credits.

This really seems like just another step, with likely more to follow.

andrewstuart2 | karma 6658 | avg karma 5.33 · | 2021-03-17 04:37:51

Yeah, this was exactly my train of thought. That and the fact that it'd be a different story/title if they had completely stopped producing ICE cars, not engine development. There are emissions targets they're still on the hook for.

ericmay | karma 7292 | avg karma 2.61 · | 2021-04-18 20:21:10+00:00

How novel. I wonder when they’ll pass on the cost of smog, climate change, emissions, etc to ICE owners ;)

imron | karma 7478 | avg karma 3.2 · | 2021-01-07 23:48:23+00:00

They are unwilling to do so in the timeframe needed to make a difference because they are too invested in their ICE vehicles.

They'll start trying once the market has already shifted and by then it will mostly be too late.

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adrianN | karma 29995 | avg karma 2.78 · | 2022-06-13 04:53:35

Better than nothing, but the date is a bit far away if we want carbon neutrality before (or even around) 2050. Cars have fairly long service times. Hopefully the market will phase out ICEs earlier than that except for niche uses.

lowercased | karma 2339 | avg karma 2.55 · | 2022-11-16 13:53:53

An increase in 'flex fuel' vehicles, and converting more household and commercial ICE to accomodate flex fuel (E85, etc) would provide a smoother transition. We collectively seem to have simply dropped any interest in this, despite having some infrastructure in place already, and burning cleaner than existing petrol.

paulryanrogers | karma 9107 | avg karma 1.68 · | 2022-10-09 16:06:24

Compared to replacing every vehicle on their roads I think they'd rather install cleaner power sources. Of course their poor planning has put them in a bind. Still, not a situation better served by continuing to produce ICE vehicles.

XorNot | karma 14149 | avg karma 2.13 · | 2023-09-06 17:08:05

I operate under the suspicion that there's a lot of fossil fuel astroturfing going on with things like this.

They know full well anything which slows adoption is going to ultimately lead to sustained ICE usage, not some third option.

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acidburnNSA | karma 10944 | avg karma 5.46 · | 2022-02-01 08:22:39

Except ICE vehicles are not providing a unique firm low carbon capability like nuclear is.

V__ | karma 2605 | avg karma 3.91 · | 2022-10-28 14:47:19

All major car manufacturers already set earlier dates to phase out their ICE production. This announcement has basically no impact.

I also don't buy the argument that this is going to be a problem energy- or grid-wise. It's 12 years out and the grid has to change anyway. If it doesn't until then, then it will be the least of our problems.

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otto-mate | karma 3 | avg karma 3.0 · | 2019-03-14 15:24:21

Yes there's work to do, but it's not insurmountable. The National Grid in the UK has already said it would support"a more ambitious target” than the UK Government has set for the end to ICE vehicles.

rebuilder | karma 3687 | avg karma 2.71 · | 2019-06-04 04:32:22+00:00

So they still expect a significant portion of new cars in 2030 to have ICEs? Not very ambitious.

givemeethekeys | karma 2276 | avg karma 2.75 · | 2022-09-05 13:12:23

Maybe this will drive more ICE to electric conversions.

enragedcacti | karma 3087 | avg karma 3.75 · | 2023-07-14 08:06:22

Even California's 2035 ICE ban is only for light-duty passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs. As far as I can tell everyone working in the space already understand how much medium/heavy-duty ICE vehicles are contributing to building out green infrastructure and that they are going to be a given for the immediate future.

I don't know much about Simon Michaux but if he is claiming that current regulations are targeting a full electric transition then it seems like he's fighting ghosts.

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loeg | karma 21759 | avg karma 2.57 · | 2023-04-21 12:57:36

Almost no one is banning existing ICE vehicles on the road; just sales of new ICE models.

caltelt | karma 41 | avg karma 2.56 · | 2017-10-28 23:44:00+00:00

If only ICE transportation was the whole problem. It's something though. Moving in the right direction, just maybe not at a quick enough pace.

buffington | karma | avg karma · | 2023-02-16 11:56:38

Not for safety issues. Emissions inspections are yearly for ICE vehicles still.

pjerem | karma 5093 | avg karma 3.43 · | 2022-04-28 02:50:05

tbf, that's not really surprising : EU recently banned sales of ICE engines starting by 2030.

I think a lot of carmakers are going to make this move. Given the time needed to develop those projects, I think really few carmakers are working on new ICEs right now.

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bootlooped | karma 2451 | avg karma 3.12 · | 2021-03-17 04:37:30+00:00

But they're still iterating on current ICE engines, which you could call development. And in that case they're still developing ICE technology. It sounds like the only thing they're claiming is they will not come up with completely new designs.

deadmetheny | karma 1669 | avg karma 2.93 · | 2017-10-24 21:07:11+00:00

Immediate cessation of ICE vehicles is not realistic. The changeover will necessarily be gradual. Dumping all of the cash over to EV tech from ethanol production causes a different set of problems.