Governments to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars: Regular fueled vehicles not to be sold from 2040 onwards

Following recent announcements to ban the sale of regular fueled (Petrol & Diesel) vehicles (RFVs) in France by 2040, the UK’s Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced plans to achieve the same goal by the same date. The UK has become heavily polluted over the years, especially in some areas in London such as Brixton, where levels of pollution are borderline illegal. There has been a greater push for the use of electric vehicles (EVs) over recent years, through financial incentives which aim to drive down RFV usage and it seems we are to expect more EV production over the years to prepare car buyers for the ban in 2040, if it happens.

There are around 50,000 Brits who die each year from cardiovascular diseases associated with breathing in too much polluted air such as N02. The UK has come under more and more pressure to reach pollution targets but has consistently fallen short in some major areas of London. Areas such as Brixton are running on borderline illegal pollution levels.

The European commissioner has issued multiple warnings to the UK over this issue, but also to other major EU nations such as France and Germany. All this has led to announcements that plan to ban the sale of regular fueled vehicles by 2040.

Diesel cars, known as ‘Dirty Diesels’ are a major contributor to this polluted air crisis. The former Labour government slashed tax duty on these vehicles and with improved diesel prices and better fuel economy, came a surge in sales for Diesel vehicles which has resulted in more N02 emissions. Senior Labour officials have now come out and openly admitted they were wrong to promote diesel cars in the first instance.

With electric vehicles being the only substitute passenger car type in 2040, it is going to mean that the UK (and eventually other nations) will have to fork out for funding the build of new nuclear power plants and new wind turbines which will not come cheap. It is expected that each new nuclear power plant will cost around £20bn to build and a 20 year build time.

Electric vehicles have become increasingly popular over the past five years. With better battery pack pricing and more incentives to push green car usage, the volume of sales for EVs has enjoyed healthy growth in some countries, especially Norway, which has an array of subsidies and incentives for electric cars.

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