Israel to ban petrol, diesel engines by 2030

ISRAELIS will no longer be able to buy petrol or diesel-powered cars from 2030 under a plan reportedly announced by the country’s energy minister.

 

Any vehicles powered by a petrol or diesel internal combustion engine (ICE) will not be offered in Israel after 2030 as the country plans to replace them with electric cars and vehicles powered by natural gas.

 

Israel’s energy minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters that the country was pushing car companies to introduce EVs.

 

“From 2030 we won’t allow anymore the import of diesel or gasoline cars to Israel,” Mr Steinitz told the publication.

 

“We are forcing companies to bring electric cars to Israel and for oil and gasoline companies to shift to charging stations in their gasoline or petrol stations.”

 

He added that the challenge would be creating an initial critical mass of EVs that will help the country shift away from petrol and diesel-powered engines.

 

“We are already encouraging by funding charging stations, more than 2000 new charging stations around the country,” Mr Steinitz told the publication.

 

He also said that the country was planning to lower taxes on electric vehicles to close to zero to ensure that they are cheaper.

 

The plan – which is expected to be approved by the Israeli government by the end of this year – was announced just a day after the release of a United Nations report on climate change calling for massive changes relating to energy production and consumption.

 

The energy ministry announced in August that the government would invest 25 million Israeli new shekels ($A9.8m) in an electric vehicle charging network that would cover the country.

 

Since discovering large deposits of natural gas, the country has been working to phase out petrol, diesel and coal.

 

The energy ministry predicts that the tipping point for EVs will be in 2025 when there will be close to 177,000 EVs on the road, up from just a handful today.

 

This is expected to grow to nearly 1.5 million by 2030.

 

Israel’s move follows similar policy changes by other countries, with England, France and China set to ban petrol and diesel engines by 2040.

 

Germany, Denmark, India, Ireland and the Netherlands will switch over in 2030, while some countries such as Austria and Cost Rica have more aggressive targets of 2020 and 2021 respectively.

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