Dec 04 (Nikkei) - Japan will endeavor to make all new car sales eco-friendly by the mid-2030s as it joins a growing community of nations determined to slow the globe's carbon emissions, Nikkei has learned.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering a goal of abolishing new sales of conventional cars, those powered solely by internal combustion engines, and shifting to hybrid cars and electric cars from the mid-2030s.
The target would be part of a more difficult goal the government has already set -- becoming a zero-emissions society by 2050.
The government intends for the nation to take a crucial step toward that ideal by mandating electrified vehicles and thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
It will announce the policy after holding a conference in which experts and car industry executives will participate; the conference will be held this month. Later, it will sort out concrete measures for the transition to more hybrid and electric vehicles.
In 2018, vehicles accounted for 16% of Japan's total emissions. Emissions from planes, ships and trains combined accounted for 3% or less.
The Energy Conservation Act regulates the fuel efficiency of vehicles.
Japan currently is obligating carmakers to improve efficiency by 30% by the end of fiscal 2030. However, the government now appears to believe a more stringent step is necessary if the country is to meet its zero-emissions goal.
Many territories say they plan to ban new sales of gasoline-powered cars beginning in 2030 and instead promote those of electric cars.
The U.K. will ban new sales of gasoline- and diesel-fueled cars by 2030, then hybrid cars by 2035. The U.S. state of California will ban sales of new gasoline cars by 2035. France will take a similar measure by 2040.
China is considering whether to mandate that eco-friendly vehicles make up all new car sales as early as 2035, with the goal that fully electric vehicles make up 50% of sales and hybrids accounting for the other half.
