Several brands believe that on the horizon towards 2040 the combustion engine will continue to be essential

This Friday, May 31, Renault and Geely have signed a collaboration agreement in a joint-venture that will focus on the development of hybrid and combustion engines to seek the highest possible efficiency, with the Renault HORSE subsidiary as a key element. This is a measure similar to the one announced days ago by Toyota, Subaru and Mazda jointly and one that is especially relevant in Spain taking into account Law 7/2021 on climate change and energy transition.

What will happen in 2040?

In this same law, in the Article 14 point 2it is specified that «so that new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, excluding those registered as historic vehicles, not intended for commercial use, gradually reduce their emissions, so that no later than the year 2040 they are vehicles with emissions of 0 g CO2/km in accordance with what is established by community regulations«. Point 1 also indicates that the State, CCAA and Local Entities must collaborate so that in 2050 there are no passenger cars or light commercial vehicles that do not directly emit CO2.

However, Renault and Geely see a future in which more than half of the new vehicles still produced on the market by 2040 will continue to depend on combustion engines, pointing to a much longer transition over time (Reuters). In this way, it would give time to develop much more efficient combustion engines in terms of consumption and emissions, more development for biofuels and sustainable fuels and, on the other hand, more development time for electrical systems and batteries, both in their efficiency and autonomy as sustainability.

Other brands also point to a slower transition than expected at the beginning of this decade

Renault and Geely’s position is not unique, in addition to what was stated by Toyota, Mazda and Subaru, maintaining their commitment to combustion engines or hybrid systems for the future in a climate of coexistence with EVs in development. Ford and Volkswagen are some of the brands that have recently expressed changes in their roadmap, which led them to sell only electric cars by 2030.

There are many more aspects to take into account when facing this energy transition., as well as the way to deal with it. One of them is environmental, beyond the carbon footprint of hybrid or combustion vehicles, net or direct. The process of extracting materials for batteries, added to the transportation for their refinement and, as the case may be, other long-distance transportation for the manufacture of the batteries, is also another pending issue, both for Chinese brands (the largest producers of batteries today) and for European manufacturers.

We will continue listening to the cars for a little longer

In any case, efforts seem to be joining together between different companies against carbon emissions – although it is important to remember other data, such as NOx emissions due to the damage they pose to human health. Brands do not question that EVs are the future, but It seems that there will be more generations that know about cars that emit sound. We must not forget that, apart from having a stake in Mercedes-Benz, Geely has an agreement to develop gasoline hybrid engines with the German brand.