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EU Petrol CO2 emissions ban to come into force in 2035
The final confirmed future date for the end of sales of the internal combustion engine has been up in the air for some time now, 2040 was mooted for a while, now however, the EU parliament has finally agreed that the end date will be 2035. So buying privately owned combustion engines which produce any CO2 emissions, will be no more in the not too distant future.
The bottom line is that car makers must achieve a 100% reduction in the CO2 output from all new vehicles after 2035, thus effectively ending the age of petrol, unless someone can find a way round it - and some companies are working on that. This ruling doesn't yet affect motorcycle production though, so the BMF, NMC and MCIA are still trying to emphasize the positive role of motorcycles and scooters in the cities of today and buy them a bit more time.
The new ruling is being introduced incrementally, with car makers starting by having to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars by 55% by 2030. The EU lawmakers are trying to speed up the adoption of Electric vehicles, in an attempt to reduce global emissions enough to slow down the catastrophic warming of the planet.
Some smaller manufacturers have been given a bit of leeway though. Companies which make fewer than 10,000 units of a given vehicle, per annum, can ask for lower targets for the year after the ban comes into force, to give them a little longer to adjust to the new rules.
Obviously the UK is no longer in the EU, so, in theory could ignore EU rulings, but the UK government has already set out its stall and looks to be going to comply with EU standards. Also to be operating different standards from Europe and the rest of the world would just mean that any machines built to different specs would not be competitive, as they could not be used globally.
The ban, when it comes in, is on new vehicle production, so older combustion engines could still be on the roads for the remainder of their lifespan.
The obvious replacement for the combustion engine is electric motors, but in order for that to happen the infra structure needs to be in place to charge and service them. There will need to be charging stations across the length and breadth of the country to charge cars up quickly - and motorcycles for that matter.
For the infra structure to work, there also needs to be enough electric energy generated for the vastly increased demand if all vehicles are in need of it. Currently our power grid wouldn't be able to cope if the trajectory of vehicle ownership continues to increase and is all electric, so some hard thinking needs to be done.
The main thing which will drive the introduction of electric vehicles and motorcycles is consumer demand, so if people actually want them then the problems will surely be swiftly ironed out to meet that market demand.
In Japan some of the bigger manufacturers are already swinging into line behind electric vehicles. Honda and Yamaha are working on swappable motorcycle batteries and have started a joint pilot project in Saitama to evolve the necessary electric infrastructure and see how it works in practice. Both of these Japanese manufacturers are already making EV scooters which are proving popular. Honda has also been involved with the Mugen Shinden electric TT winners in the TT Zero, so electric moves are definitely afoot.
KTM and BMW are both thinking electric with bikes like BMWs C-Evolution scooter and KTM's Freeride E, and more appearing all the time.
So with all this in mind and a definite timetable of events unfolding, what are your thoughts about the future of motorcycling and what you will do personally? Will you move over to electric without many concerns or is it kicking and screaming all the way for you?
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