France will ban the sale of combustion-engine vehicles from 2040

French Minister for the Environment Nicolas Hulot has announced that the sale of diesel and petrol vehicles will be banned from 2040.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced his goal of reducing the environmental footprint of his country. Macron’s initiative aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 100% produced by the French nation by 2050.

France’s 2050 target: eliminate CO2 emissions completely

With this goal in mind, France will encourage the purchase of more environmentally friendly vehicles. The Minister for the Environment stated that “the government will offer all citizens a bonus to replace their diesel car – registered before 1997 – or petrol car – registered before 2001 – with a new or second-hand vehicle”. The amount of this bonus is still unknown, but in any case the measure should help the French population acquire an electrified vehicle sooner or later.

France will pay citizens for their older vehicles to encourage the transition to electrified vehicles

In an interview with the Telegraph, Nicolas Hulot acknowledged that the initiative will be “tough” for car manufacturers, but that his country’s industry is capable of handling this challenge. The Minister for the Environment cited Volvo as an example, which has already announced that all its vehicles will be electric or hybrid by 2019.

Diesel and petrol cars account for 95.2% of the French market share

In any case, France has a great deal of work ahead. Reports indicate that diesel and petrol vehicles currently account for 95.2% of the market share in the French country. During the first half of 2017, hybrid vehicle sales accounted for 3.5%, while electric car sales barely reached 1.2%.

Despite the enormous challenge of limiting the sale of combustion-engine vehicles, France joins other countries with this measure – the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany or Norway – which have already announced the implementation of initiatives – and even bans – similar.