This story has been doing the rounds for some time (as I believe it's been debated on and off) but for some reason it's hit the headlines again today. Norway's political leaders are pushing to ban the sale of all, yes ALL, internal combustion engined cars by 2025. Read all about it here in The Independent.
It's worth noting that the decision will be (when it's made) to ban the sale of new ICEs, not to ban existing vehicles (which some of the more scaremongering blogs and posts have sought to suggest). This may still seem like a draconian move, but bear in mind that 2025 is still 9 years away and given the progress that has been made in the availability of EVs from major manufacturers, the (too slow) but steady increase in charging infrastructure, improvements in range and battery technology in the last 9 years, it's quite possible that come 2025 the idea won't seem as odd as it does now. There's also the likelihood of a much more interesting second-hand market by then (currently second-hand EVs seem to cost almost as much as buying new).
So is it a reasonable idea? Whether it's a good idea or not, it's undeniably the sort of thing that's likely to give a boot to those major manufacturers currently dragging their heels in producing a decent, affordable, EV into their range. While manufacturers may currently be eyeing the increase in EV sales with interest (particularly in Germany where sales are beginning to take hold in what is a fairly strong petrol-head region), there's a big change when an entire country says it'll no longer buy any of your ICEs in what is a fairly short date.
The question is now, will other countries, especially the UK, be bold enough to consider such a step?
