The 27-nation bloc joins more than a dozen other nations which have set deadlines for ending sales of new cars with internal combustion engines which emit toxic gasses that are a major driver of climate change.Norway is the trailblazer in ending the reign of ICE vehicles, with only zero-emission new vehicles -- either battery electric or hydrogen -- to be sold from 2025.
Chinese firms also dominate the production of the raw materials used in electric batteries and their manufacture. Plug-in hybrids are included in that goal, however. While these vehicles have fossil fuel motors, they can run several dozen kilometers on their batteries. With vehicles required to be zero emission, even hybrids will fail to make the cut. Only new battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be able to be sold in the bloc, unless they are designed to use carbon-neutral synthetic fuels.