France To Ban Petrol and Diesel Cars by 2040

Emmanuel Macron’s France is leading the world by example with regards to its stance on the importance of preserving the environment. This week, France announced that it would phase out coal-using power plants within the next five years and ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040. Countries such as India and Germany have set similar goals for themselves but France does seem to have the bigger task as currently only 2% of vehicles are electric. Within the next 23 years, the French will have to go from 2% to 100% clean fuel cars.

This decision came after the US President decided to pull out of the Paris Agreement – a move that will allow the US to do even less to preserve the environment than at present.

While the scheme has not been fully thought out yet, we do know there are plans to help poorer families make the switch from diesel and petrol to electric so that they are not left without cars.

What is also fortunate is that car companies such as Volvo are planning to completely stop making and selling non-electric cars within the next few years, meaning that ownership of electric cars should be easier and cheaper as it becomes more mainstream.

Hopefully, the UK will create a similar plan to France and the other countries that are taking climate change and other environmental issues very seriously. It’s quite likely that in a few years’ time, we’ll have no choice but to become fully dependent on electric vehicles as the motoring world has declared fossil fuels to be old news.