European Parliament Formally Bans Sale of Gas, Diesel Car from 2035

In a bid to make fast transition to electric vehicles, the European Parliament has approved the law to ban the sale of new gas and diesel cars in the European Union. This will come into effect from 2035.

The new legislation paves the way towards zero Carbon emissions for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in 2035.

The commission will present a methodology to assess and report data on carbon emissions throughout the full life cycle of cars and vans sold in the markets of the European Union.

Jan Huitema, a member of the European Parliament said, "The operating costs of an electric vehicle are already lower than the operating costs of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine.”

He also added that it is important to bring more affordable electric vehicles to consumers.

With a total of 340 votes in favour, 279 against and 21 abstentions, the new rules also paves the way for more immediate emissions reductions targets. New cars and vans sold from 2030 will have to meet a 55 percent and 50 percent cut in emissions, respectively, compared to 2021 levels. The previous 2030 emissions target for new cars sold was 37.5 percent.

The law was first accepted by negotiators from EU countries, the European Parliament and the European Commission in October last year. Hence, Tuesday’s approval is just a step before the law gets a formal rubber stamp and the rules begin to take effect. That’s expected to happen in March.

Many automakers have already begun preparing for this transition. Volkswagen said last year that the brand will produce only EVs in Europe by 2033. Audi also said it would cease producing diesel and petrol cars by 2033.

However, some automakers, industry players and countries have been giving the EU pushback ever since the law was proposed in July 2021. Renault, for example, said in 2021 that it would seek an extension to the proposed plan to ban internal combustion engine vehicle sales in the EU by 2035, instead hoping to push out the transition to 2040 so it could provide more affordable cars to EV buyers.

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