If you thought the EU’s 2035 plan to effectively end sales of new combustion-engine cars was a done deal, think again. According to a new Reuters report, the European Commission is expected to announce a major rethink, after months of pressure from Germany, Italy, and automakers that say the transition is moving faster on paper than it is in real life. The big idea on the table is simple: either push the deadline back by about five years or soften the rule enough that it stops looking like a hard cutoff.

At the heart of the debate is an uncomfortable truth for legacy brands: selling enough EVs to hit the targets has been harder than expected, especially when shoppers are staring at higher sticker prices and an uneven charging experience. That is created an opening for traditional manufacturers like Volkswagen and Stellantis to argue for flexibility, while pointing to fierce competition from Tesla and fast-moving Chinese brands that can often undercut on price. Even with trade measures aimed at easing pressure from China-built EVs, European automakers are still fighting an uphill battle.

Where it gets spicy is that not everyone agrees Europe should slow down. EV-focused companies are warning that backing off a firm deadline risks undermining investment and letting China stretch its lead in electrification. Environmental groups are also pushing the EU to stick to the original plan, arguing that leaning on biofuels and similar alternatives is not the clean, scalable solution some want it to be. In other words, this is not just an emissions policy fight, it is a power struggle over what Europe’s auto industry looks like in the 2030s.

Automakers, for their part, are trying to steer the conversation toward a “multi-technology” roadmap. Think continued sales of combustion vehicles alongside plug-in hybrids, range-extender setups, and engines running on so-called CO2-neutral fuels like e-fuels and advanced biofuels. It is the industry’s way of saying: keep the climate goals, but stop betting the entire future on a single drivetrain type before the market and infrastructure fully catch up.

Now zoom out to the U.S., because this is where it gets especially interesting for what you will see in showrooms. If Europe relaxes its timeline, global manufacturers get more breathing room to keep certain combustion platforms alive, and that can ripple into North America in a very real way. We could see some brands lean harder into new or refreshed gas models, and especially hybrids and plug-in hybrids, while still continuing to sell and develop EVs for buyers who are ready and for markets that demand them. For consumers, that likely means more variety and a longer transition period where gas, hybrid, and EV options all coexist instead of a sudden cliff.

The bigger takeaway is that the EV future is not disappearing, it is getting renegotiated in public. Europe appears to be wrestling with how to protect jobs and competitiveness while still moving emissions in the right direction, and automakers want rules that reflect what buyers are actually doing, not what forecasts said they would do. For the U.S., it is a reminder that product planning is global: when one major market rethinks its deadlines, it can change what gets built, what gets sold here, and how quickly the industry tries to move everyone to plugs.