Germany’s State Secretary of Economy and Energy, Rainer Baake, says that a mandate to ban petrol car sales by 2030 will be necessary to achieve the country’s emission goals to cut carbon dioxide output by 80 to 95 per cent by 2050.
And it is not the first country to float the idea — The Netherlands and Norway government are in discussions to only allow electric car sales by 2025, and India is “evaluating a scheme” for an all-electric fleet by 2030.
As reported by Electrek, Germany’s 45 million vehicles have only 150,000 hybrids and 25,000 all-electric vehicles at present. It is estimated to take at least 20 years to replace the entire fleet.
Germany joined the International Zero-Emission Vehicle Alliance in December last year, and in April a new incentive and investment program was announced offering a €4,000 discount for all-electric vehicles under €60,000 (which excluded Tesla. Tesla wasn’t happy).
The new program is aimed at not only increasing sales short term, but encouraging manufacturers to expand their electric and hybrid ranges. With VW planning a battery factory and Daimler announcing an “electric mobility plan” to introduce electric powertrains, it might just be working.
Can you imagine a plan like this working in Australia? Is an all electric fleet in our future?