Britain will ban the sale of
new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 in an attempt to reduce air pollution, a
move that will spell doom for oil producers, such as Nigeria.
The measure, 23 years away,
could herald the end of over a century of popular use of the fossil
fuel-guzzling internal combustion engine.
Britain’s step, which follows
France, amounts to a victory for electric cars that could eventually transform
the wealth of major oil producers, car industry employment and one of the icons
of 20th Century capitalism: the automobile itself.
The mayors of Paris, Madrid,
Mexico City and Athens have said they plan to ban diesel vehicles from city
centers by 2025, while the French government also aims to end the sale of new
gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040.
The British government has been
under pressure to take steps to reduce air pollution after losing legal cases
brought by campaign groups, and in May set out proposals for a scrappage scheme
to get rid of the most polluting vehicles.
“Today we are confirming that
that means there should be no new diesel or petrol vehicles by 2040,”
environment minister Michael Gove told BBC Radio.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s
Conservatives had pledged to make “almost every car and van” zero-emission by
2050. The Times newspaper said the supply of hybrid vehicles which have both an
electric and petrol or diesel engine would also end.
There is a mountain to climb,
however.
Electric cars currently account
for less than 5 percent of new car registrations in Britain, with drivers
concerned about the cost and limited availability of charging points and
manufacturers worried about making expensive investments before the demand is
there.
“We could undermine the UK’s
successful automotive sector if we don’t allow enough time for the industry to
adjust,” warned Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor
Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The Future Is Electric?
While many automakers may find
it hard to countenance the end of the combustion engine, some have embraced a
future where electric vehicles, or perhaps even driverless vehicles, ultimately
win the race.
Earlier this month, Volvo
became the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out
vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine by saying all its car
models launched after 2019 would be electric or hybrids.
Renault-Nissan in 2009
announced plans to spend 4 billion euros on electric car development.
But until Volkswagen admitted
in 2015 to cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests, most mainstream auto
manufacturers had been slow to sink serious investment into battery cars.
The backlash against diesel,
without which carmakers would struggle to meet CO2 targets, has since refocused
minds and produced a flurry of new commitments.
Volkswagen (VW) itself unveiled
ambitious plans last year to roll out 30 new battery-powered models that it
expects to account for 2-3 million annual sales by 2025 – or as much as 25
percent of its vehicle production.
Toyota, which pioneered
gasoline-electric hybrids but had long resisted battery-only cars, changed tack
last year and has since unveiled plans for a new range of pure-electric models.
In Europe, so called ‘green
cars’ benefit from subsidies, tax breaks and other perks, while combustion
engines face mounting penalties including driving and parking restrictions.
China, struggling with
catastrophic pollution levels in major cities, is pushing plug-in vehicles,
though in the United States there is much less appetite so far.
Germany, the home of major
carmakers such as VW, Daimler and BMW, should soon start phasing out petrol and
diesel too, said Oliver Wittke, a transport expert in Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).
But there is likely to be resistance
in Europe’s biggest car market. More than 600,000 jobs could be at risk in
Germany from a potential ban on combustion engine cars by 2030, the Ifo
economic institute said earlier this month in a study commissioned by Germany’s
VDA car industry lobby.
Germany’s three major carmakers
have also invested heavily in diesel technology, which offers more efficient
fuel burn and lower carbon dioxide emissions than gasoline-powered cars.
In response to the British
decision, a German government spokeswoman said on Wednesday Merkel had
repeatedly warned against “demonizing” diesel vehicles.
Yet Britain’s move will
accelerate the decline of diesel cars, whose nitrogen oxide emissions have been
blamed for causing respiratory diseases, in Europe’s second biggest market
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