EU approves 2035 ban on selling petrol and diesel cars

The EU has today voted to approve legislation effectively banning the future sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans. In order to sell vehicles in Europe, carmakers will have to cut emissions by 100 per cent by 2035 compared to 2021 levels, which means that all new cars and vans are going to be CO2-emission-free.

Though carmakers with small production numbers - less than 1,000 cars annually - will have exemption until 2035, mass production manufacturers are being encouraged with some pretty big carrots to create zero-emission and "well-performing plug-in hybrids" between 2025 and 2029. The 2035 zero-emissions standard is more aggressive than originally planned.

EU spokesperson Jan Huitema said: “This regulation encourages the production of zero- and low-emission vehicles. It contains an ambitious revision of the targets for 2030 and a zero-emission target for 2035, which is crucial to reach climate neutrality by 2050.

"These targets create clarity for the car industry and stimulate innovation and investments for car manufacturers. Purchasing and driving zero-emission cars will become cheaper for consumers and a second-hand market will emerge more quickly. It makes sustainable driving accessible to everyone.”

In a campaign entitled ‘Fit for 55’, the EU is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 2021 levels. To support this, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold from 2030 and 2035 respectively will have to comply with new emissions standards by law.

While the UK does not have to follow suit since Brexit, it’s likely we will anyway. That’s because a) manufacturers will make cars for Europe, not the Union, and to make life simple, all those cars will comply with whatever standards are required. And b) the UK has already shown that when the EU decides something on the motoring front, the UK government’ll generally comply with that standard.

That’ll mean at some point, we'll have to ratify these same performance standards into British law to comply with Parliamentary sovereignty. Of course, this will only affect new cars sold. As late as 2029, we'll still be buying fossil-fuelled models.