France announced on Thursday that it will stop selling gasoline and diesel-powered cars by the year 2040.
The announcement was made by France’s new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot as he talked about the country’s energy strategy going forward.
The move is an attempt to meet France’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and a response to the increased pollution caused by many diesel-powered cars in Europe in recent years, Time reported.
The move will phase out gasoline and diesel cars by about 2055 in France, depending on longevity, but that won’t allow France to meet its own emissions goals. Hulot also said he plans to offer unspecified incentives for trading in gasoline and diesel cars for electric ones, The New York Times reported.
Other French environmental goals include cutting electricity generation from fossil fuels to zero by 2022 and dependence on nuclear power to under 50 percent by 2025, Time reported.
India and Norway also have plans to stop selling traditionally powered vehicles: India in 2030 and Norway in 2025, the Times reported. Germany has pledged to get 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020, but admits it will fall far short of its goal.
Swedish automaker Volvo also announced this week it will only make hybrid and electric cars beginning in 2019.
Twitter was mixed on the idea, but several pointed out that electricity is mostly generated with fossil fuels, so charging the cars would ultimately still depend on them, not to mention the strain on the power grid.
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