Germany calls for a ban on combustion engine cars by 2030

Germany isn’t content with relying on

financial incentives

to usher in an era of pollution-free cars. The country’s Bundesrat (federal council)

has passed

a resolution calling for a ban on new internal combustion engine cars by 2030. From then on, you’d

have

to buy a zero-emissions vehicle, whether

it’s electric

or running on a

hydrogen fuel cell

. This isn’t legally binding, but the Bundesrat is asking the European Commission to implement the ban across the European Union… and when German regulations tend to shape EU policy, there’s a chance that might happen.

The council also wants the European Commission to review its taxation policies and their effect on the "stimulation of emission-free mobility." Just what that means isn’t clear. It could involve stronger tax incentives for buying zero-emissions cars, but it could also involve eliminating tax breaks for

diesel cars

in EU states. Automakers are already worried that tougher emission standards

could kill diesels

– remove the low

cost of ownership

and it’d only hasten their demise.

Not that the public would necessarily be worried.

Forbes notes

that registrations of

diesels

, still mainstays of the

European car

market, dropped sharply in numerous EU countries in August. There’s a real possibility that

Volkswagen’s

emission cheating scandal is having a delayed effect on diesel sales. Combine that with larger zero-emissions incentives and the proposed combustion engine ban, and it might not take much for Europeans to go with electric or

hydrogen

the next time they go car shopping.

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This article by Jon Fingas originally ran on Engadget, the definitive guide to this connected life.