The Australian
July 26, 2017
Britain will ban the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars from 2040 when all vehicles must be fully electric as part of a plan to clean up air pollution, UK newspapers are reporting.
The reported move follows a similar announcement earlier this month by the French government.
No one was immediately available for comment at Britain’s environment ministry which was due to make the announcement on Wednesday, according to the newspaper reports.
The Times said the sale of new hybrid vehicles that have an electric motor combined with a petrol or diesel engine would also end under the plan. The government has been under pressure to take measures to reduce air pollution after losing legal cases brought by campaign groups.
Under the proposals, local authorities would be able to charge levies on the drivers of the diesel vehicles on the most polluted roads from 2020, if air quality does not improve, the Daily Mail newspaper said.
The report also comes on the back of announcement by Volvo earlier this month that the Chinese-owned automotive group had unveiled plans to begin phasing out the conventional car engine.
In the face of competition from upstarts like Tesla, which has begun production of its new mass-market Model 3 electric battery-powered family car, Volvo said that all new Volvo models from 2019 would be either fully electric or a hybrid.
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