Germany's Bundesrat (federal council) has banned the usage new internal combustion engine cars after 2030.
Buyers will have to then shift to a zero-emissions vehicle, and in this case, it would ideally be an electric or a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. Reports also suggest that the Bundesrat council is in talks with the European Commission to implement the ban across the European Union, and going by how German regulations influence EU policy making, we can definitely see this shaping up.
In fact, the Bundesrat council is also pursuing the European Commission to revise its taxation policies. Now, while this would preferably mean stronger tax incentives for buying zero-emissions cars, it could also spawn the elimination of tax breaks for diesel cars in the European Union. All this comes at a time when automakers are already worried that the tougher upcoming emission standards could inadvertently kill the diesel motor.
There have been reports stating that the registration of diesel cars has dropped significantly in August in numerous EU countries. When you factor the incorporation of a prospective zero-emissions incentive along with the proposed combustion engine ban, it could only mean that Europeans could eventually shift to electric vehicles in the near future. We might expect a similar reaction in the Indian market but not on such a wide scale considering the recent ban on high capacity diesel powered engines here.
