We introduce and test a novel design and assessment framework for climate policy mix pathways and use it to construct and assess alternative policy pathways offering increased ambition of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) abatement in Germany’s light duty vehicle (LDV) sector. The main novelty of the approach is a strong focus on temporality, starting from the observation that net zero GHG transitions undergo different stages with different challenges, and therefore different policy approaches are needed as the transitions in different sectors mature. We emphasise policies which not only support the emergence of novel technologies, but also phase out GHG-intensive technology stocks. We focus on the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) to battery-electric vehicles (BBEV) (“Antriebswende”) to keep the analysis tractable, but recognize the need for a broader mobility transition including e.g. modal shift.