Germany To EU: Ban Combustion Engines By 2030

Germany is home to a major chunk of automotive brands in the world, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi. While the country is among the fastest growing economies in the world, it is also the fourth largest automotive manufacturing country globally, lagging behind only to the US, China and Japan. With such strong labels on its portfolio, Germany’s take on the future of auto industry is taken seriously throughout the world.

Germany’s Bundesrat (federal council) has now passed a resolution calling for a ban on new cars powered by combustion engines by 2030. From then on, it says, customers will only have a choice to buy either a full-electric or a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, both of which produce zero emissions. While it is easy for the country to implement this within its jurisdiction, it has gone ahead and proposed for the same ban across the band of European Union (EU) countries.

Apart from this, the German council also wants the EU to revisit its taxation policies and their subsequent effects on encouraging customers to buy zero-emissions cars. While this plea could mean that Germany wants stronger tax incentives for zero-emissions cars, it could also involve higher taxes for diesel-powered vehicles in the coming years. This will potentially come as a blow to automakers around the world for their diesel offerings in the EU, as they are already under scrutiny after the infamous VW dieselgate scam.

The EU witnessed a massive slump in sales of diesel-powered vehicles in the month of August 2016. We can’t rule out the possibility that the VW dieselgate scam is having a delayed impact on diesel car sales in the EU. Fuse that with higher tax incentives on zero-emissions cars and the proposed ban on combustion engines, and it will surely take Europeans towards a full-electric or a hydrogen fuel-cell car, whenever they are in the market to buy a new ride.