Donkervoort supports low-volume CO2 exemption

The new rules will force mainstream car makers to produce only zero-emission vehicles by 2035 but also to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 (compared to 2021 figures).

Effectively, the new law bans the sale of any new petrol-, diesel- and hybrid-powered vehicle in the EU from 2035.

Donkervoort supports the indefinite exemption for boutique car makers (selling fewer than 1000 vehicles a year) on both business and environmental grounds.

“We create art pieces that exist for 100 years or more, so they’re not mass-production cars you throw away after 15 years,” Donkervoort Automobielen Managing Director Denis Donkervoort said.

“We know this because more than 99% of the cars we’ve ever built are still drivable, and we know this because we still service them.

“On the mileages our cars do, a Donkervoort EV could never recover the extra sunk carbon emissions from the production of the battery alone, much less the rest of the car.

“Compared to the whole-of-life emissions level of the F22, any theoretical on-road advantage a Donkervoort EV would have could not possibly deliver enough saved CO2 to catch up to the F22, let alone be better.”

There is also a ruling for car makers selling between 1000 and 10,000 vehicles, who are exempt from the interim 2030 emissions cut, but not from the 2035 ban on emissions.

Donkervoort has made no secret of being open to new technologies and has contributed many of its own to the battle to reduce carbon emissions, including its ultra-strong Ex-Core carbon-fibre technology that is now used in the World Rally Championship, the World Endurance Championship and is being tested by Formula One teams.