The living dead? Confusion remains over fate of the combustion engine

 It’s fitting that the conversation around the demise of the internal combustion engine is taking place so close to Halloween.

There’s a rich tradition of horror film slashers reappearing after they were presumed to be finished off for good. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger… many a hapless teenage victim has met a grizzly end after making the fatal mistake of presuming their pursuer was no more.

And so it is with the combustion engine – presumably extinguished and yet without a death certificate. In fact, 2026 could see a gnarled hand emerge from the grave as lightning flashes above.

Late last Thursday evening (27 October) saw a deal struck between the European Parliament and member states that seemed to seal the fate of cars running on liquid fuels. By 2035, only zero-emission vehicles may be sold in the EU, it was decreed.  (...)