France aspires to become a carbon neutral country by 2050. In preparation for that, the nation is quite serious about putting an end to petrol and diesel vehicles, thus reducing their contribution to climate change. And they want to completely ban the sales of such vehicles by 2040. This initiative and approach is part of the French government’s goal to meet the emissions target. The move was welcomed by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London.
Since the French Presidential Elections 2017, the government has awakened to the need for a pollution-free environment, and has started pushing hard for the ban of petrol and diesel vehicles to meet its own deadline.
Nicolas Hulot, France’s new ecology minister, said: “We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040.”
For quite some time, a few countries have been floating the idea of putting an end to petrol and diesel vehicles, though none came up with a concrete plan.
France will be the second country to ban the sales of internal combustion engine vehicles in the future. Norway is the current leader in promoting electric cars. Other countries like Germany, Netherlands, and India are said to be moving in the same direction, with varying timelines between 2025 and 2030. The United Kingdom too has an aspiration to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.
Scandinavian car maker Volvo has already said that starting in 2019 all their cars would either be fully or partially electric.
While it is not an easy move for all the car makers, he said that France’s industry is well-equipped for the switch. Car makers in France have innovative ideas to deliver the promise that the country has made. Per the European Environment Agency, French carmakers Peugeot, Citroën and Renault ranked first, second and third respectively last year with the lowest carbon emissions.
Per a Bloomberg report, with the increase of electric vehicles globally, oil demand will dip by 8 million barrels a day, and increase electricity consumption by 5% to charge all the new EVs.
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