France is set to ban combustion-engine cars: by 2040 only electric vehicles will be allowed on the roads

Pollution caused by vehicles is an issue that affects everyone, and the various political powers want to remedy it. Electric cars, hybrids, shared vehicles… there are already countless alternatives offered by the car industry itself to move beyond the more traditional engines, but countries such as France have wanted to go further. The French government, together with its leaders, has just announced that from 2040 the circulation of combustion-engine vehicles on its roads will be banned, leaving room only for models that rely on a fully electric system.

At first glance, this measure may seem somewhat extremist, but the truth is that France has very clear steps in mind to carry out this plan successfully. To this end, French lawmakers have managed to set this goal through the Mobility Law, which seeks to reduce, over different periods, both the level of CO2 emissions and the presence of diesel and petrol combustion vehicles.

Through the application of this law, France intends to achieve “the total decarbonisation of land transport by 2050 and the end of vehicles that use fossil fuels by 2040”. But reaching that point also requires a series of intermediate steps, which is why the goal has also been set to cut CO2 emissions by 37.5% by 2030.

With this premise, France will need various alternatives not only to eradicate pollution, but also to fill the gap left by the car during the transition period. To that end, state money will be invested -350 million euros and 13.4 billion respectively- in bicycles and public transport, two alternatives that will allow users of the big cities to get around efficiently without having to rely on a personal vehicle, which will also be replaced by carsharing.

In this way, both the presence of combustion vehicles and that of private cars can be diminished. By eradicating both, CO2 levels will fall decisively, but even so, a long period of time will be needed to carry out this transition, which will also depend on the number of electric vehicles available on the market and on the various subsidies the French state may offer for their purchase.

This is how France has sought to demonstrate that the disappearance of the car as we have known it up to now is a matter of time, however much it may bother us. The electrification of vehicles is becoming one of the most viable solutions but, even so, a clearer and more concise settlement is still needed to make it possible to carry out the purchase, maintenance and care of this new way of life.