What the world is doing to fast-forward electric cars

The world is changing, and charging towards a future filled with electric cars, as a result of government intervention.

With climate change dictating policies in parliaments across the globe to prevent major urban areas from being choked by pollution, car-makers are being forced to fast-forward plans to develop and sell zero-emissions vehicles in order for them to stay in business.

Some countries have already set ambitious targets to slash carbon-based emissions including abolishing the sale of petrol- or diesel-powered vehicles by a certain date, while others – including Australia – are still tippy-toeing around the topic so as not to upset major industries like mining and transport.

To date, at least 14 individual countries and 20 major cities have laid out plans to ban the sale of combustion-engined vehicles in the not-too-distant future.

Here’s an overview of what some of the key automotive regions around the world are doing to advance the adoption of electric cars.

The Australian government has yet to outline a definitive path to reduce vehicle-based carbon emission outputs, leading to the car industry taking the initiative to collectively set a new standard beyond the current – and yet outdated – Euro 5 regulations.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) last year confirmed the local industry has agreed to self-impose its own standards by 2030 with a view to reducing passenger car emissions (including most SUVs) to less than 100g/km and light commercial vehicles and heavy SUVs to below 145g/km.

“The intent behind this new standard is to ensure automotive manufacturers can continue to do what they do best – and that is to bring the latest, safest and most fuel-efficient vehicles to the Australian market,” said FCAI’s Tony Weber.

“The FCAI strongly supports a comprehensive approach to addressing motor vehicle emissions that includes fuel quality standards, the introduction of Euro 6 and the introduction of a challenging but realistic, achievable and market-relevant CO2 standard.”

With close ties to the United States but a stronger sense of the environmental impacts caused by climate change, the Canadian government has indicated it will ban the sale of the petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040.

The province of Quebec, however, is accelerating that timeframe to 2035.

Now an automotive superpower, China is pushing electric cars harder than many other countries.

Yet it hasn’t officially put the nail in the coffin for combustion-engined vehicles, citing plans that half of all vehicles sold from 2035 must meet its New Energy Vehicle rating, which includes all variations of plug-in hybrid, hydrogen and battery-electric vehicles, with the remaining 50 per cent to be hybrid vehicles.

The European Union, which is made up of 27 member states, is currently developing the next level of emission regulations, called Euro 7, which are set to be introduced by 2025.

The Euro 7 plan doesn’t implicitly dictate that petrol and diesel vehicles cannot be produced, but the initial proposal looked to reduce carbon emissions by between 60-90 per cent which car-makers have deemed virtually impossible using existing technologies and fossil fuels.

The introduction of e-fuels, however, could assist with meeting less stringent targets.

France was an early adopter in forging ahead with plans to ban the sale of petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles, announcing a plan in 2017 at the commencement of the Macron government to abolish them by 2040.

One of the world’s most significant automotive hubs, Germany has yet to outline a formal nationwide ban on combustion vehicles but will instead follow the EU guidelines.

However, that hasn’t prevented 11 of its biggest cities from preventing older-generation (Euro 5 and earlier) diesel-powered vehicles from driving in certain areas.

As one of the most populated countries on the planet, India is also one of the largest consumers of gasoline. Yet it has no plans to ban the sale of combustion vehicles in the near future.

The Japanese government is currently debating and formulating its position on the potential to ban petrol and diesel cars as part of its plan to be net zero on carbon emissions by 2050 with a likely target in the mid-2030s.

The UK announced last year, following its separation from the European Union, that it will bring forward its proposed ban on the sale of new petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles from 2040 to 2035.

The new Biden-led government has pledged to make many changes to America’s policies on climate change, with pressure rising from within the Democratic party for the president to ban petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2040.

Even though nothing is set in concrete yet, California has already earmarked its intention to ban the sale of combustion vehicles by 2035.