Countries, Including the U.S., Plan to Phase Out and Eventually Ban Gas Cars

One of Biden's priorities, when he came into office, was clean energy and EV ventures. At the federal level and the state level, it's becoming more of a priority for lawmakers to address pollution and climate change by focusing on cars. At the beginning of this year, gas prices skyrocketed and the push for EVs continues to develop. With all this effort, will gas cars be banned? It seems so. Here's what we know.

The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer M. Granholm, said, "Every American community, especially those that face disproportionately higher energy burdens, deserves the economic and health benefits that come with increased access to affordable clean energy."

CNBC reported in 2021 that Biden was making it his business to have electric vehicles account for half of the new vehicle sales by 2030. Pete Buttigieg, the Transportation Secretary, told CBNC, "We have got to act, the transportation sector is the biggest part of our economy emitting greenhouse gases, and cars and trucks are one of the biggest parts of that."

Buttigieg spearheaded much of the conversation regarding the EV push. He tweeted that those who will benefit the most from EV purchases are those who drive often such as those in rural areas. Because of this, Buttigieg said that increasing EV charges across the U.S. is a priority. Biden's infrastructure law provided a $7.5 billion allocation for EVs and chargers. Biden's plan for new EV sales by 2030 also included producing 500,000 charges, especially in rural areas.

California, in particular, is very invested in getting rid of gas cars completely. California has zero emission benchmarks such as requiring 35 percent of new cars to be battery-powered by 2026 and 100 percent of new sales to be zero emission in a decade. California is aiming for 68 percent of sales to be zero emission vehicles by 2030. For California, approximately 40 percent of the state's pollution comes from gas-powered vehicles.

California Governor Gavin Newsom aims to phase out internal combustion engine cars in 15 years. 17 states have followed California's approach to clean car energy including New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Oregon. According to InsideEvs, General Motors plans to stop selling gas cars by 2035. While GM isn't the only automotive company that plans to stop making gas cars, other countries plan to ban them completely.

The following countries have a ban deadline:

1. Norway: 2025
2. South Korea: 2025
3. Belgium: 2026
4. Austria: 2027
5. Slovenia: 2030
6. Iceland: 2030
7. Netherlands: 2030
8. Denmark: 2030
9. Ireland: 2030
10. Israel: 2030
11. Sweden: 2030
12. India: 2030
13. Scotland: 2032
14. Japan: 2035
15. United Kingdom: 2035
16. Canda: 2035
17. Singapore: 2040
18. China: 2040
19. Sri Lanka: 2040
20. Taiwan: 2040
21. France: 2040
22. Spain: 2040
23. Egypt: 2040
24. Costa Rica: 2050

These states have ban deadlines in place:

1. Washington: 2030
2. California: 2035
3. New York: 2035

As years pass, other states will likely create their own plans to phase out gas-powered cars in favor of EVs. For now, the plan seems to be focusing on a slow-drip phase-out that will lead to the eventual ban on gas cars. The push might lead to another issue, which is whether or not countries including the U.S. have a power grid stable enough to keep up with thousands of EVs that need to be charged consistently.