Which countries and regions in the world will take the lead in eliminating internal combustion engine vehicles? I made a form

California is the latest region in the world to commit to phasing out sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles. An executive order issued at the end of September directed that all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in California must achieve zero emissions by 2035.

Previously, the California Air Resources Board took action in June 2020 to pass the "Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) Regulations", requiring manufacturers to sell zero-emission trucks to account for their annual California sales from 2024 to 2035. The proportion is getting higher and higher. With these latest commitments, California has become part of the global trend.

More and more national, provincial and state governments have set a timetable for phasing out the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles or only allowing new sales of electric vehicles.

Some governments have expanded the scope of elimination to other vehicle areas, including vans, light commercial trucks, medium and heavy vehicles, and some governments aim to eliminate internal combustion engine vehicles for certain purposes. Since most targets are focused on passenger cars, we use the map below to compare target years in different jurisdictions. There are still many blank spots on the global map of

. In terms of passenger vehicles, the 17 governments that have set targets for the elimination of internal combustion engine vehicles accounted for only about 13% of the total global passenger vehicle sales in 2019.

The table at the end of this article summarizes the national, provincial, and state governments’ targets for eliminating internal combustion engine vehicles, including other vehicle sectors such as trucks, light commercial trucks, and medium and heavy vehicles-these are set anywhere in the world as of early November 2020 aims.

Note: Only the goals mentioned in official policies or strategic documents are shown in the map and tables. Those goals announced by political representatives but not put forward in writing are not included.

It can be clearly seen from the map and table that European countries are in a leading position. Norway and the Netherlands have committed to the strictest timetable.

In less than 5 years, Norway hopes that all newly sold passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and city buses will be zero-emissions (buses will be allowed to use biogas). The country also plans to achieve zero emissions for 75% of new long-distance buses and 50% of new trucks by 2030.

In the Netherlands, new buses put into use from 2025 must be zero-emissions, and new passenger vehicles sold from 2030 must also be zero-emissions. In addition, the country has pledged to achieve zero emissions in urban logistics by 2025.

Other European countries that have promised to stop selling or register new internal combustion engine passenger cars within 10 years include Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia and Sweden.

Scotland hopes to end sales of new internal-combustion vehicles and trucks before 2032. The United Kingdom may shift its current goal of 2040 to 2035, and may even further advance its goal to 2030.

France’s goal is to stop the sale of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles that use fossil fuels by 2040. Spain has a draft law that will allow the sale of zero-emission vehicles from 2040.

In North America, California is the most ambitious in terms of timetables and affected vehicles. After the above-mentioned administrative order is issued, it is expected that relevant regulations will be formulated to turn the goal into action.

British Columbia, Canada, has taken the lead and passed binding regulations in July 2020, requiring automakers to gradually increase the sales of new zero-emission passenger cars and light commercial trucks to 10% by 2025 , Increase to 30% in 2030 and 100% in 2040. The province has also established compliance requirements.

At the national level, Canada has set the same progressive goals for the same automotive segment, but has not yet passed legally binding regulations.

In Central and South America, Costa Rica and Colombia are the only countries that have set targets for the elimination of internal combustion engine vehicles in official policy documents. Costa Rica proposed in its "National Decarbonization Plan" that by 2050 at the latest, the sales of new light vehicles for the transportation of people and goods should be 100% zero-emissions.

In Colombia, the "Electric Vehicle Promotion Law" stipulates that the purchase of electric vehicles or zero-emission vehicles in public transportation fleets must increase from at least 10% in 2025 to 20% in 2027, 40% in 2029, and 40% in 2031. 60%, 80% in 2033, 100% in 2035; but there is still no sales target for other vehicle fields.

China’s Hainan Province has set Asia’s most ambitious goal of phasing out sales of new diesel and gasoline passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, buses and passenger cars by 2030.

has earlier targets for certain user groups (such as government fleets, car-sharing operators, and postal and logistics service departments, which have set a 100% electric vehicle sales target in 2020). Only for private-use vehicles, the province’s goal is to gradually increase the sales of electric vehicles from 10% in 2019 to 40% in 2020, 80% in 2025, and 100% in 2030.

The Israeli government’s goal is also to increase the proportion of electric vehicles in new private car sales in 2030, 5% in 2022, 23% in 2025, 61% in 2028, and 100% in 2030; note that this only covers some Passenger car field.

The island country of Cape Verde on the northwest coast of Africa is the only African country that has committed to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles within a certain period of time. As stated in its National Electric Transport Policy Charter, the country’s goal is to ban the import of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035; this includes passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses, medium and heavy trucks, and two-wheelers.

The above-mentioned national, provincial and state governments have several things in common. They all set clear goals and timetables, set a target level for 100% elimination of internal combustion engine vehicles or strict sales of electric vehicles or zero-emission vehicles, and announced their goals in official policy documents. In addition to these efforts, there are some initiatives that promise to stop sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles. The 18 countries, states and provinces that have joined the International Zero Emission Vehicle Alliance (ZEVA) have agreed to achieve zero emissions in all new passenger vehicle sales by 2050 at the latest.

In addition, as mentioned above, the seven ZEVA members—British Columbia, California, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Quebec, Canada—have officially committed to achieve the goal of 100% elimination of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles ahead of schedule.

In terms of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, 15 US states and the District of Columbia signed a memorandum of understanding in July this year, promising to achieve 100% zero-emissions of newly sold medium and heavy-duty vehicles by 2050.

Other countries, regions and states have also pledged to phase out the sales of internal combustion engine vehicles, but so far there is no official policy document or legislation. For example, just a few days after California’s announcement, the states of New York and New Jersey called for 100% zero emission of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the state by 2035; unlike California, this is not an executive order. a part of.

In September, the Belgian government also proposed to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine cars by 2026, but this is only for company cars. Other countries or regions that have announced the phasing out of internal combustion engine vehicles include Egypt, Portugal, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. What is important is that leading automotive markets such as the United States, China and Germany lack a binding long-term commitment to achieve a full transition to internal combustion engine vehicles.

In the United States, the "Zero Emission Vehicles Act" that sets the goal of zero-emission vehicle sales in 2040 has not been passed. In China, although the relevant regulatory agencies began to study the prohibition of the use of internal combustion engines in 2017, the government has not officially announced the target.

In other words, China has gone quite far in the electrification of buses. China is already the world's largest electric vehicle market. In 2019, the electrification ratio of new bus sales in China is 96%, and this is in the absence of any national electric bus share target.

Take Germany as an example. By becoming a member of IZEVA, the country has acquiesced to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2050 at the latest; but this commitment has not yet been reflected in the national climate protection plan. However, California’s commitment has become a catalyst for new political discussions in Germany on how to establish a formal national elimination goal. It needs to be emphasized here that the elimination commitment applies to the sales of new cars, not vehicles that are already on the road. In addition, only British Columbia has passed binding regulations, and most internal combustion engine vehicle phase-out targets do not include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). A recent analysis found that the average fuel consumption of plug-in hybrid vehicles is 2 to 4 times the type approved value.

However, the recent announcements and promises are an important signal. They seem to be aroundDiscussions surrounding the elimination of internal combustion engine vehicles and the full transition to zero-emission vehicles have brought new impetus. Perhaps these will bring shock to those countries that are still hesitant to determine the elimination goal.