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The British government could be about to announce a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel engines by 2040, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. The draconian measure is expected to be announced by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs as part of a beefed-up clean air strategy, the first draft of which came in for much criticism for being too weak.
The move, if it is indeed put into action, would follow on from a similar commitment made by the French government, on the foot of increasing air pollution in major urban centres such as Paris and London. In the two years since the Volkswagen diesel scandal broke, authorities have become increasingly concerned about the levels of dangerous nitrogen oxides (NOx) which are produced by engines. Diesel engines are worse in this regard, but petrol engines are not entirely saintly either.
A government spokesperson told The Guardian that "Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and this government is determined to take strong action in the shortest time possible. That is why we are providing councils with new funding to accelerate development of local plans, as part of an ambitious £3-billion programme to clean up dirty air around our roads."
That programme will also include the spreading of the London congestions charge (likely to be renamed the T-for-toxic charge) out to other major cities and towns, and alterations to parking arrangements, traffic light sequences and more.
Is the plan as ground-breaking as it might at first seem? Perhaps not. 2040 is still almost a quarter-of-a-century away after all, and car makers have already begun moving in that direction as it is. Both Volvo and BMW have committed to making electric and hybrid versions of every car that they both build (indeed, Volvo's commitment goes further, saying that it will build only battery and hybrid models from 2020 onwards) while Toyota, two years ago, said that it will end virtually all of its internal combustion production, worldwide, by 2050.
There will also be a great deal of debate in parliament over whether to enforce such a measure or not, especially with major car makers such as BMW and Mercedes insisting that petrol and diesel engines can be cleaned up to the point where they no longer present a major risk to health.
As for Ireland, clearly any move such as this by two major European car markets, especially the only other right hand drive one, has the potential for a major impact on the cars we buy here, and as things stand at the moment, neither the charging network nor the electricity grid are ready for a wholesale change to battery cars. The much-awaited Clean Air Strategy from the Department of Environment is expected to include measures to start a move away from petrol and diesel power, but nothing so dramatic as this.