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The great EV U-turn: Brands that have ditched or delayed electric car plans due to slow public demand
Car manufacturers are facing a difficult decision when it comes to the exact date to accelerate their electric vehicle adoption and ditch the internal combustion engine for good.
With the sales of EV slowing globally, many car makers have announced they are delaying their previous commitments to going electric-only in favour of keeping flexibility in their offerings to make sure they cater for all buyers and protect the bottom line.
Since the start of 2024, a number of auto brands have announced delays or a watering down of battery car strategies.
And the snowball is only gathering size and speed, with the industry's challenges - charging infrastructure issues, wavering government policies, tariffs and stalling private uptake - triggering the realisation that some EV deadlines are 'too ambitious'.
So, which auto makers have announced that they will be re-thinking their plans to go all-electric? And from when?
Here are the brand that have confirmed they've postponed shifting to all-electric line-ups in favour of keeping combustion cars around for longer.
Mercedes-Benz
Original deadline: Full electrification by 2030 as long as 'market conditions allow'
Mercedes is the latest manufacturer to backpedal on its electric-only deadline, with an extension of petrol and hybrid models beyond 2030 now confirmed.
CEO Ola Kallenius said the brand will run a revised dual-powertrain strategy, keeping combustion engines on the road longer than planned, telling Auto Motor und Sport: 'Electrified high-tech combustion engines will run longer than we originally expected'.
Mercedes saw a 23 per cent drop in EV sales last year, despite global EV sales rising 25 per cent to 17 million.
Describing the new direction as a 'course correction', Kallenius pointed to slow EV takeup in some areas and general market conditions as reasons why 'the most rational approach is for an established manufacturer to do both and not neglect either technology.'
Volvo
Original deadline: All cars will be fully electric by 2030
Last year, Volvo backtracked on its promise to sell only fully electric cars by 2030 due to poor battery vehicle sales.
In September, the Swedish company announced it is now aiming for 90 to 100 per cent of its global sales to be either pure electric or plug-in hybrid by the end of the decade.
Volvo executives said the delay to its EV schedule will 'allow for a limited number of mild hybrid models to be sold, if needed'.
Majority-owned by China's Geely, Volvo has attributed its change in policy to a 'slower than expected' rollout of charging infrastructure, the withdrawal of government incentives in some markets and 'additional uncertainties' created by recent tariffs on electric vehicles.
Volvo Cars chief executive Jim Rowan reaffirmed that Volvo is 'resolute' in its 'belief that the future is electric' but that 'the transition to electrification will not be linear' and so Volvo 'needs to be pragmatic and flexible'.
Audi
Original deadline: All ICE car production to end in 2033
Audi recently did a U-turn on its promise to only sell EVs from 2033, with it now bringing out hybrids and ICE cars into the next decade
Audi is another car brand that's just executed its U-turn on EV strategy, with the Bavarian-based marque confirming it will continue to make both internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and plug-in hybrids into the next decade.
The German manufacturer had made a commitment to stop developing ICE engines in 2033.
Audi CEO Gernot Döllner confirmed the brand's revised plans last week, explaining that 'flexibility' is the new direction Audi will take so it can see how 'markets develop'.
Originally the car maker had planned to build its last ICE-only car next year with the new-generation Q7. However, it suggested earlier this year that petrol and diesel models could run for longer as part of a 'completely new' fuel-powered line-up.
EVs accounted for less than 10 per cent of Audi's global sales last year, despite the fact it is one of the manufacturers to have broadened its range of battery-powered vehicles.
Porsche
Original deadline: 80 per cent of cars electric by 2030
Porsche adjusted its electric ambitions in July 2024.
In a statement, the luxury car maker said that it expects the transition to electric vehicles to take longer than it thought.
Porsche said it's watering down its aims for 80 per cent of sales to be all-electric by 2030 and went on to confirm it will continue to sell the existing Cayenne SUV with combustion engines into the next decade.
The 80 per cent target will only be delivered if customer demand and developments in the electromobility sector warrant it, Porsche said.
Porsche also struggled with low EV sales last year, and highlighted the disparity in its three key markets in EV uptake, with demand far ahead in China, slower in Europe and patchy in the US.
'Our double strategy is more important than ever,' Porsche said, referring to its continued development of both combustion engine and electrified cars.
Ford
Original deadline: All passenger vehicles in Europe would be electric or plug-in hybrid by mid-2026, and fully-electric by 2030
US car giant Ford had some of the most ambitious EV plans, storming ahead of rivals in its quest to supply buyers with zero emission cars.
But in summer 2024, Ford scaled those ambitions back after admitting that its 2030 deadline to be all-electric was 'too ambitious'.
Chief operating officer of Ford's Model E electrification division, Marin Gjaja told Autocar that there was 'uncertainty' around driver demand for electric vehicles and that challenging legislation changes are to blame for the updated deadline.
Gjaja said: 'Ithink customers have voted, and they told us that was too ambitious, is what I would say - and I think everyone in the industry has found that out the hard way. I would also say reality has a way of making you adjust your plans.
'We don't see that going all-electric by 2030 is a good choice for our business or, especially, for our customers,' he told Autocar.
Aston Martin
Technically, Aston Martin hasn't delayed its electric deadline, rather it has pushed back delivering its first electric car.
The British luxury car producer was scheduled to be bring its first ever EV to market in 2026, but new CEO Adrian Hallmark said earlier this year that the company would instead prioritise its mid-engined plug-in hybrid electric vehicle 'Valhalla'.
The first Aston Martin battery electric car will be postponed to the latter part of this decade.
It's the second time the EV's launch has been postponed, after it was first pushed back from 2025 to 2026.
The shift was made due to a global downturn in EV sales, and a pivot towards plug-in hybrids.
Hallmark said that in light of the European 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel sales, Aston Martin will become all-electric between 2035 and 2040.
Bentley
Original deadline: Would stop selling fossil fuel cars by 2030
Bentley announced in November it will delay going fully electric by five years to 2035 as it too slammed the brakes on its drive to an electrified future.
The British luxury firm's original 2030 deadline to transition away from the internal combustion engine has now officially been scrapped.
And it also announced that its first EV due to be unveiled next year will no longer be a sleek electric grand tourer GT that was first hinted - instead, it will be a large urban SUV.
In a blow to both it – and the government's – future electric car ambitions, Bentley says current falling demand for EVs and a lack of a suitable public charging infrastructure is to blame for the delay.
Lamborghini
Original deadline: Not confirmed but will continue to sell ICE cars past 2030
Lamborghini will continue to make combustion cars into the 2030s and won't bring out an EV until 2029
Another luxury car maker to push its electric timeline backs is Lamborghini.
It's pushing back the launch of its Lanzador EV from 2028 to 2029.
'We do not think 2029 is late to have an electric car. We do not think that, in our segment, the market will be ready in 2025 or 2026,' CEO Stephan Winkelmann told reporters in December 2024.
The next Urus will be fully electric, while traditional V8 and V12 models will remain in production into the 2030s.
Alfa Romeo
Original deadline: Sell only EVs from 2027
The Italian car maker changed its 2027 EV-only deadline earlier this year.
In 2023, global head of product for Alfa Romeo, Daniel Guzzafame said: 'From 2025 onward, we will be (electric) only on the core models … and from 2027 (we will have) a 100 per cent electric line-up.'
But in January head of Alfa Romeo North America Chris Feuell told Automotive News: 'It would be very challenging for them [the 110-strong US dealer network] to survive with a EV-only portfolio'.
Alfa Romeo will instead adopt a 'multi-energy' approach instead of a 'EV-only strategy'.
Lotus
Original deadline: Be an electric-only car maker by 2028
Lotus, which already sells the all-electric Eletre hyper-SUV (pictured) and Emeya hyper-GT EV, will no longer be EV-only from 2028
Lotus scrapped its plan to go electric-only by 2028 at the end of last year. Instead it will now invest in hybrid technology due to slowing global demand for battery-powered vehicles.
Autocar reported that Lotus models will be fitted with a new plug-in 'Super Hybrid' system combining a turbo-petrol engine with a battery pack and 'ultra-fast' charging.
Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng reportedly confirmed the to journalists at the Guangzhou motor show.
Lotus already has its all-electric Eletre hyper-SUV and all-electric Emeya hyper-GT.
The undecided manufacturers
BMW pulled its £600m investment into Mini's EV plant causing doubts over BMW's EV deadline and phase out
Some manufacturers are still sitting on the fence, and have to give a concrete yes or no as to whether their EV plans have shifted.
BMW is one, as it put plans to invest £600m in electrifying the Mini Oxford plant on ice due to a slower than expected take-up of EVs.
European Union EV sales dipped by 5.9 per cent in 2024, although petrol and diesel sales also declined – so BMW took the decision to pause investment plans given 'multiple uncertainties facing the automotive industry'.
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse last year called on the European Union to rethink its ambitious plan to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2035, stating that the target is 'no longer realistic.'
Renault ex-CEO, Luca De Meo (pictured) said that the 2035 deadline for reaching 100% electric new cars is unrealistic and called for 'more flexibility' in the schedule to shift to EVs
Last July Renault's now departed CEO Luca De Meo cast doubts on the French brand's transition to electric cars in the next decade, warning that sales are not on the 'right trajectory'.
He warned that customers are not ready to switch to battery-powered vehicles and called for 'more flexibility in the schedule'.
He told French financial daily newspaper, Les Echos this just after the EU elections -a time of weak electric vehicle demand when there were increasing calls to scrap the 2035 deadline, which is due to be reviewed in 2026.
Speaking to the French newspaper, de Meo the Renault boss said: 'We need a little more flexibility in the schedule'.
