UPDATE 2-Electric cars win? Britain to ban fresh petrol and diesel cars from 2040
* Britain says long goodbye to internal combustion engine
* Electrified cars win on air pollution concerns
* Proposed ban goes after similar French announcement
* Diesel cars blamed for poor air quality, respiratory disease
* GRAPHIC: Electrical vehicles on the rise http://tmsnrt.rs/2eNwQoZ (Adds detail, background)
LONDON, July twenty six (Reuters) – Britain will ban the sale of fresh petrol and diesel cars from two thousand forty in an attempt to reduce air pollution that could herald the end of over a century of popular use of the fossil fuel-guzzling internal combustion engine.
Britain’s step, which goes after France, amounts to a victory for electrical cars that could eventually convert the wealth of major oil producers, car industry employment and one of the icons of 20th Century capitalism: the automobile itself.
The mayors of Paris, Madrid, Mexico City and Athens have said they plan to ban diesel vehicles from city centres by 2025, while the French government also aims to end the sale of fresh gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040.
The British government has been under pressure to take steps to reduce air pollution after losing legal cases brought by campaign groups, and in May set out proposals for a scrappage scheme to get rid of the most polluting vehicles.
"Today we are confirming that that means there should be no fresh diesel or petrol vehicles by 2040," environment minister Michael Gove told Big black cock Radio.
Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives had pledged to make "almost every car and van" zero-emission by 2050. The Times newspaper said the supply of hybrid vehicles which have both an electrified and petrol or diesel engine would also end.
There is a mountain to climb, however.
Electrified cars presently account for less than five percent of fresh car registrations in Britain, with drivers worried about the cost and limited availability of charging points and manufacturers worried about making expensive investments before the request is there.
"We could undermine the UKs successful automotive sector if we dont permit enough time for the industry to adjust," warned Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
THE FUTURE IS Electrified?
While many automakers may find it hard to countenance the end of the combustion engine, some have embraced a future where electrified vehicles, or perhaps even driverless vehicles, ultimately win the race.
Earlier this month, Volvo became the very first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine by telling all its car models launched after two thousand nineteen would be electrified or hybrids.
Renault-Nissan in two thousand nine announced plans to spend four billion euros on electrified car development.
But until Volkswagen admitted in two thousand fifteen to cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests, most mainstream auto manufacturers had been slow to drown serious investment into battery cars.
The backlash against diesel, without which carmakers would fight to meet CO2 targets, has since refocused minds and produced a flurry of fresh commitments.
Volkswagen (VW) itself unveiled ambitious plans last year to roll out thirty fresh battery-powered models that it expects to account for 2-3 million annual sales by two thousand twenty five – or as much as twenty five percent of its vehicle production.
Toyota, which pioneered gasoline-electric hybrids but had long resisted battery-only cars, switched tack last year and has since unveiled plans for a fresh range of pure-electric models.
In Europe, so called ‘green cars’ benefit from subsidies, tax cracks and other perks, while combustion engines face mounting penalties including driving and parking limitations.
China, fighting with catastrophic pollution levels in major cities, is pushing plug-in vehicles, however in the United States there is much less appetite so far.
Germany, the home of major carmakers such as VW, Daimler and BMW, should soon commence phasing out petrol and diesel too, said Oliver Wittke, a transport pro in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).
But there is likely to be resistance in Europe’s fattest car market. More than 600,000 jobs could be at risk in Germany from a potential ban on combustion engine cars by 2030, the Ifo economic institute said earlier this month in a investigate commissioned by Germany’s VDA car industry lobby.
Germany’s three major carmakers have also invested intensely in diesel technology, which offers more efficient fuel burn and lower carbon dioxide emissions than gasoline-powered cars.
In response to the British decision, a German government spokeswoman said on Wednesday Merkel had repeatedly warned against "demonising" diesel vehicles.
Yet Britain’s budge will accelerate the decline of diesel cars, whose nitrogen oxide emissions have been blamed for causing respiratory diseases, in Europe’s 2nd fattest market.
Gove also said the government would make two hundred million pounds ($260 million) available to local authorities shortly for schemes to restrict diesel vehicles’ access to polluted roads.
He said he favoured road-by-road limitations for diesel vehicles rather than outright bans from town centres or costly vehicle scrappage schemes, but did not rule them out entirely if they were local authorities’ preferred options.
London mayor Sadiq Khan, of the opposition Labour Party, said the government’s commitment was half-hearted and steps needed to be taken before two thousand forty to tackle air pollution.
"We need a fully-funded diesel scrappage fund now to get polluting vehicles off our streets instantaneously, as well as fresh powers so that cities across the UK can take the act needed to clean up our air," Khan said in a statement.
Turning away from oil will add to discussions about whether the world is reaching peak oil request and how extra electrified power can be generated.
Some companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, expect request to peak as early as by the end of the next decade.
Request for diesel cars fell ten percent in the very first half of the year in Britain while sales of petrol vehicles rose five percent, according to industry data.
Sales of electrified and hybrid models rose by almost thirty percent in the same period, the fastest growing section of the market albeit from a low base.
($1 = 0.7677 pounds)
(Extra reporting by David Milliken and Estelle Shirbon in London and Laurence Frost in Paris, Editing by Fellow Faulconbridge and Mark Potter)
