The combustion engine is a discontinued model. Car manufacturers, countries and even individual cities agree on this. But when exactly will it be over with gasoline and diesel?? Everyone has their own ideas. Here are the current phase-out plans.
Movements like "fridays for future are mobilizing worldwide to generate more pressure on those responsible in politics and business. Tackling the climate crisis is the main task of our century, the activists warn: "We demand a policy that is equal to this task."
This policy should also promote clean mobility and modern technology, replacing gasoline and diesel with environmentally friendly drives.
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on the other hand, there are more than 47 million cars with an internal combustion engine on germany’s roads. And not every owner can simply swap his car for an electric model. On top of that, not everyone wants it.
"Fridays for future": the movement takes to the streets for more climate protection. (source: thomas vonier/imago images)
The EU Commission’s end date
But the EU commission wants it. It formulates such supposedly ambitious climate targets that building diesel and gasoline engines will no longer be profitable in the medium term – and neither will driving them. For example, a recent commission paper stated, somewhat awkwardly, that "average annual emissions from new vehicles must be 55 percent lower from 2030 and 100 percent lower from 2035 than in 2021"." and then a little more clearly: "as a result, all new cars registered from 2035 will be emission-free", according to the commission. "For a just, green and prosperous future."
This "end date" 2035 – only a proposal anyway – is no more than most european carmakers have set themselves anyway, criticizes greenpeace climate expert tobias austrup. Especially as it would come much too late: for global warming of no more than 1.5 degrees, europe would have to get out of the combustion engine by 2028.
There is also a long way to go before the proposal becomes something concrete. Among other things, this requires the consent of the individual EU countries. And resistance is to be expected, especially from countries with a strong and influential automotive industry.
Some other countries, however, have less patience than the EU commission. You could like to go a little faster. the netherlands, for example, demanded more than just a proposal from the eu commission in an unofficial letter in march – namely a specific ban date for the sale of combustibles. Belgium, greece, ireland, lithuania, luxembourg, malta, austria and denmark are also named as senders of the letter.
Oliver zipse: an early departure from the internal combustion engine would mean a "corporate shrinkage course, reminds the head of carmaker BMW (4.8 billion euro profit in the second quarter). (source: sepp spiegl/imago images)
the danish wanted to take matters into their own hands as early as 2018 and commit to a ban on internal combustion engines by 2030. Nothing came of it – the plan violated EU law. ireland, the netherlands, sweden and slovenia also want to phase out by 2030. Norway, not an EU member state, will no longer allow new combustion engines from 2025 onwards. But a ban on the stock is not planned.
And the uK, which has just left the EU, already brought forward its ban on new internal combustion vehicles from 2040 to 2035 in february 2020. later, prime minister boris johnson even spoke of 2030. Scotland, on the other hand, has set its sights on a sales ban by 2032.
Overview of the countries’ phase-out plans
| 2025 | norway |
| 2030 | denmark india ireland iceland israel japan netherlands sweden slovenia |
| 2032 | scotland |
| 2035 | Great Britain canada taiwan thailand |
| 2040 | france egypt |
| 2060 | china (hainan province: 2030) |
in addition to the planned sales bans in the federal states, more and more cities are deciding to restrict the entry of gasoline and diesel vehicles into their streets. As things stand at present, such measures will affect around 16 million cars across europe.
Berlin, for example, wants such a regulation from 2030 within the capital’s S-Bahn ring, and five years later in the entire city area. And spain already wants to achieve zero emissions by 2023, at least in its cities with more than 50.000 residents to set up certain zones that only clean cars are allowed to drive through. no new diesel cars will be allowed on mallorca from 2025 (gasoline cars from 2035). one year earlier, in 2024, paris bans all diesels. The ban on gasoline-powered cars will follow in 2030.
Many cities are implementing in this way what the EU Commission has just proposed – and much sooner. The list of entry restrictions is likely to become even longer in the future. For some automakers, it could well become an opportunity to rethink their own phase-out strategy.
| 2019 | stuttgart Cracow |
diesel gasoline and diesel |
| 2020 | turin oslo palermo madrid |
diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel |
| 2024 | paris | diesel |
| 2025 | bergen | gasoline and diesel |
| 2030 | paris heidelberg copenhagen warsaw rome milan barcelona Strasbourg amsterdam rotterdam london greater manchester birmingham |
gasoline gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel gasoline and diesel |
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Here’s how german manufacturers plan
Of all German manufacturers, opel has the most ambitious timetable: the stellantis subsidiary wants to offer only e-models in europe as early as 2028. From 2030, ford will offer only electric vehicles. Audi wants to produce the last internal combustion engine in 2033. VW, the parent company, has set 2033 to 2035 as the phase-out date – but only in europe. In china, south america and the u.s., they’ll be building the burner even longer, he says.
Mercedes-benz wants to have a CO2-neutral fleet from 2039 – whatever that means. perhaps it occurred to group CEO ola kallenius himself that such plans are somewhat vague – especially for a company that likes to portray itself as a technology pioneer. It may be possible to set more ambitious targets, the swede hinted. More not. And BMW wants at least half of its vehicles to be electric by 2030. munich does not have a specific date for phasing out combustion engines. A too-rapid phase-out would mean an "entrepreneurial shrinkage course, says group ceo oliver zipse. His shareholders may applaud him for it. The climate researchers certainly don’t do it.