THE EU parliament has this month voted on the end of privately-owned internal combustion engine vehicles, etching 2035 in stone, as the year the petrol ban will come in.
The ban will now come into effect, making the sale of new petrol and diesel cars basically impossible. The official standing is that carmakers must hit a 100 percent reduction in the output of CO2 from new vehicles, driving the final nail in the coffin of petrol power. The ruling though doesn’t yet affect motorcycle production, and lobby groups like the BMF, MCIA and NMC are all working hard to drive home the importance of the powered two-wheeler in the modern world.
The petrol ban will not completely arrive in 2035, and instead, the amount of petrol-powered cars are being reduced in stages. By 2030, car makers must have reduced CO2 emissions from new cars by 55 percent compared to 2021 levels. The speed of reduction was increased recently (with the previous number being 35 percent by 2030) as EU lawmakers look to speed up the uptake of EVs across the continent. In total 340 MEPs voted in favour of the petrol ban, against 279 MEPs who were against it. In total 21 MEPs abstained from taking part in the vote.
The new law does include a loophole, for smaller niche manufacturers. It states that brands that make fewer vehicles, less than 10,000 units a year, can ask for weaker targets for up to a year after the ban comes in.
What does the EU petrol ban mean for the UK?
With the UK no longer within the EU, it’s easy to assume that this government could simply bulldoze the ban and continue selling internal combustion engine vehicles. That’s not the case though, the UK government has already laid out its decarbonisation plan, which again is something the motorcycle lobby is looking to discuss.
