Whether it’s because of the embarrassment of the Volkswagen diesel scandal or it just seems to be time for a change, the German government just passed a resolution to ban the sale of internal combustion engines in the EU by 2030. This resolution will allow only ZEV (zero emission vehicles) to be sold as of that year but still allow any vehicles which were made before 2030 to have internal combustion engines and still be legal to drive on the road. This could be an answer to the VW scandal, which would make this scandal a small blessing in disguise.

In reality, the German government cannot make a unilateral decision for the entire EU, which is made up of 28 different countries, but Germany is the largest government and has the most powerful economy in the EU means they have a huge influence over decision that are made over the EU and the UN Economic Commission for Europe. This resolution passed in all sixteen German states with full support from both sides of the aisle, which is a telling statistic, letting the world know this is what Germany wants the EU to work toward in the future.

The Volkswagen diesel scandal isn’t the only reason this resolution came about. In earlier years the ideal was to have diesel powered vehicles sold to reduce the consumption of fuel. This was encouraged with lower taxes on diesel fuel and it worked with more than half of the new car sales since 2010 being diesel models. Little did we know at that time that Volkswagen had a defeat device installed in their diesel engines, which meant these cars were causing much greater pollution than they should have during the on road driving, causing this venture to backfire.

In order to move forward, legislation of this nature helps to make it possible and more popular for car owners to purchase ZEV models that are powered by fuel cells or batteries for their driving needs. Recently we’ve seen concept vehicles at the Paris Motor Show by BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Volkswagen and other automakers that were all ZEV models. This means we could have battery-electric models on the market in huge numbers in the next few years, which some of the automakers present at the Paris Motor Show expressed. With the support of the German government this certainly should be a goal that can eventually be accomplished.

Of course the support has to be reciprocated as well in order to work. This means there needs to be responses from the German auto industry, the rest of the EU and the market to make this proposal work. All signs are positive right now for this to move forward and become passed by all members of the EU with so many automakers already making statements regarding the number of models they plan to build that will be ZEVs for the future. Is this the true future of the automotive industry worldwide? Let’s watch and see what happens with this proposal and see how quickly it spreads.