Ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 welcomed by environmental groups

That would effectively mean cars and vans fuelled by petrol and diesel, which are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as well as poorer air quality, will be banned from being sold by any carmakers.

It follows a year of often-fraught negotiations since first being proposed in the EU last summer, with the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association claiming vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine should not be banned entirely.

The EU Parliament's lead negotiator Jan Huitema said it was “good news” for motorists.

“New zero-emission cars will become cheaper, making them more affordable and more accessible to everyone,” the Dutch MEP said.

Green group Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomed the deal, which will see the EU become the largest economy to phase out sales of polluting vehicles. Cars and vans are responsible for 16% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.

Deal long overdue

It said the new deal was long overdue.

Senior director for vehicles at T&E, Julia Poliscanova, said: “The days of the carbon-spewing, pollution-belching combustion engine are finally numbered. It’s 125 years since Rudolf Diesel revolutionised engine efficiency, but lawmakers have decided the next chapter will be written by the cleaner, better electric vehicle. 

For the planet and human health, that can’t come fast enough.” 

The new deal will require carmakers to reduce emissions of new cars sold by 55%% in 2030, compared to 2021, before reaching a 100% CO2 cut five years later.

T&E claimed the 2025 and 2030 targets were too weak to significantly drive down emissions in this decade, and called for improved taxation and charging policies to spur the take-up of zero-emissions cars.

It said foreign carmakers such as those in China were far ahead of EU competitors because of heavy subsidies and state backing.

Ms Poliscanova said: 

Foreign carmakers are eating the Europeans’ lunch. The EU badly needs a joined-up strategy for its auto industry that speeds up electrification and future-proofs European jobs.

“Global competition is needed for scale and innovation, but manufacturers should be making more EVs and batteries in Europe. On the demand side, Europe needs a seamless charging network and policies to help middle- and lower-income families drive electric cars too.” 

In Ireland, the Government has a vision of 1m EVs on the road by 2030, but even though there have been rapid sales pick-ups in the past year, experts say it is not nearly fast enough to reach the ambitious target.

Transport and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan defended the pace of transition, saying in July that “every single manufacturer is now switching to electric”.

He added: “We expect the price to come down when they start to do more bigger mass production that you bring the cost down, but also the fuel cost is a fraction, the maintenance cost is a fraction. 

"So already we're very close to the point where the lifetime cost of an electric vehicle is cheaper than the diesel or petrol equivalents. It saves people money. We need to go further."