U.K. says 2035 is the end of the road for nonelectric cars

By Allison Matyus Published April 25, 2023

Britain has announced that it plans to phase out the sales of gas, diesel, and hybrid cars by 2035 as part of a push toward only electric vehicles being sold in the country.

Recommended Videos

According to Reuters, the government announced the plan on Tuesday, which is five years earlier than initially planned. The push for an earlier ban is Britain’s attempt to reduce air pollution.

“We have to deal with our CO2 emissions,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday. “As a country and as a society, as a planet, as a species, we must now act.”

Andrea Lehmkuhl

Britain’s ban doesn’t mean there won’t be any gas, diesel, or hybrid cars on the road after 2035, since cars sold before then could be on the road following th enactment after the ban. However, the ban ensures that all new cars bought after 2035 will be electric only.

Aside from Britain, Reuters reports that France, Mexico, and Spain have all made similar promises to ban diesel or fossil-fuel-powered cars within the next decade or so.

The automotive industry is gearing for an electric revolution, as brands like Bentley promise all-electric models by 2023, and others like Mazda, Toyota, and Porsche follow suit with plans to add electric vehicles to their model lineups.

German automaker Daimler announced in September that it would end the development of combustion engines to focus solely on electric vehicles.

One of Daimler’s biggest and most popular brands is Mercedes-Benz, which sells fully electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, and high-performance hybrids. By discontinuing gas and diesel engines, we may soon see a Mercedes-Benz lineup that is fully electric.

While foreign automakers and countries are making strides in the electric vehicle market, the U.S. hasn’t made any promise to weed out gas- and diesel-powered cars.

However, U.S. automakers are making their own pledges to include more electric vehicles in their lineups. Ford plans on an F-150 electric truck, and General Motors will introduce an electric pickup in 2021 as well.

In total, there are more than 40 EVs scheduled to reach car showrooms during the early 2020s, and they will all have more range, quicker acceleration, and better in-car tech.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…

Cars

Can the power grid handle EVs? The common myth explained

Close up of the Hybrid car electric charger station with power supply plugged into an electric car being charged.

Cars are changing, and quick. While only a few years ago, the options for electric vehicles were limited and often low quality, these days there are tons of great options on offer -- and over the next 10 years, they’re expected to get much better and much cheaper.

But there’s a common idea out there that the power grid can’t actually handle electrification. But is that really true, or is that just a misconception peddled by the fossil fuel industry that fears an end to its massive riches? Turns out, the grid will indeed be able to handle vehicle electrification -- if the right steps are made to ensure that it can. As is the case with pretty much everything, it's a little more complicated than that.
How much power do EVs need?
Electric vehicles have pretty massive demands when it comes to their energy usage. Recent studies suggest that there are currently around 1.7 million EVs on U.S. roads, and some estimates suggest that number will be up to 26.4 million by 2030. That’s a pretty huge increase in demand for electricity.

Cars

Used EV prices are falling quicker than those of gas cars, and that’s good

Let's face it. Electric vehicles are getting cheaper, but they're still expensive, with so-called "budget" models still costing north of $35,000. That, however, really only accounts for new electric vehicles -- and it turns out that used ones are getting much more affordable. In fact, a new report suggests that the price of used electric vehicles is falling much quicker than that of gas counterparts.

I get it -- the concept can be scary. New EV buyers certainly don't want to find that their shiny electric vehicles are worth so much less after just a few years. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is actually a good thing.
The numbers
The report from iSeeCars notes that while in June 2023, average used EV prices were 25% higher than used gas car prices, by May 2024, used EV prices were 8% lower. That's a pretty dramatic change.

Cars

How are cars going to differentiate themselves when performance is a commodity?

Front three-quarters view of a 2023 Kia EV6 GT in a desert setting.

Cars seem to be simultaneously getting more exciting and more boring at the same time. Fifteen years ago, performance was the thing that set high-end cars apart from the rest. Sure, it’s important not to understate things like design and comfort, but ultimately, high-end cars were different because of their performance. But these days, you can get behind the wheel and hit the accelerator on a sub-$40,000 EV, and get to 60 seconds in only a little more than three seconds. That’s a level of power that only the most expensive cars of 15 years ago could approach.

Now, to be clear, driving dynamics are about a lot more than 0-to-60 times, and even I can easily fall into the trap of boiling performance down to that one number. To be fair, a point could be made that it’s an easy metric for most car buyers to understand, and that the nuances of steering dynamics and the feel of a car are largely indiscernible to most people. But the fact remains that the feel of the brakes and suspension, as well as the tuning of the engine or motors, all impact how a car is going to react when you get behind the wheel.