The United Kingdom wants to cut fuel emissions in their country
United Kingdom to Ban New Gas and Diesel Car Sales by 2040
London – Following its continental neighbors, the United Kingdom wants to ban the sale of new diesel- and gas-powered cars by 2040. The country’s environment minister, Michael Gove, made the announcement today.
The announcement follows a recent similar commitment by France to ban the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered cars within the same time frame.
Norway has even more ambitious plans, aiming to cut the sale of new cars with traditional combustion engines by 2025. Mayors of other major European cities, such as Madrid and Athens, have similar aspirations.
Britain’s decision is one of the country’s attempts to reduce air pollution to help mitigate the amount of carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere.
“We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars, not just because of the health problems, but also because the emissions they cause will accelerate climate change,” Gove said in an interview with BBC Radio.
Gove said cars with some form of electrified motor combined with a traditional combustion engine would be exempt from the ban.
Further, he hopes the ban will get all gas and diesel cars off of UK roads by 2050.
A Tough Mandate?
Analysts are mixed on whether these decisions by the United Kingdom as well as France are attainable goals.
Diesel car sales are down, but gas-powered cars have gone up 5 percent in the United Kingdom in 2017. What’s more, electrified car sales are up 27.5 percent this year, according to Reuters. However, they don’t even make up 5 percent of new car registrations in the UK.
However, other experts don’t think it will be difficult because of commitments from automakers. They point to recent announcements by major global automakers to electrify their fleets in the coming years.
Earlier this week, BMW announced that all of its brands and model series would offer some form of electrified option. BMW’s announcement came a few weeks after Volvo made a similar commitment. Earlier in July Volvo announced that it was electrifying all of its new models from 2019 on.
Analysts say the biggest challenge will be creating the transportation infrastructure to support the the sharp rise in electrified cars that will on the road if the mandate is met. What’s more, governments will need to find ways to fund the myriad subsidies electric car customers can enjoy in many European countries, as well as the United Kingdom.
