When will petrol cars be banned in Australia and what will happen to all of the internal combustion engine vehicles after the EV transition is complete and will there come a time when it is illegal to drive a petrol car?

Emissions laws are closing in on car makers, electric cars are being bought at an unprecedented rate and worldwide governments have set impending deadlines that will stop the sale of new vehicles with combustion engines.

So how long will it be before petrol cars are banned in Australia and what will happen to all the internal combustion engine vehicles after the EV transition is complete?

An actual ban on the sale of new petrol cars in Australia might seem unlikely, but it could happen sooner than you think.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021 more than 100 governments signed an agreement to end the sale of combustion powered vehicles by 2040.

The list of countries who committed to the deadline is diverse and many include the powerhouses that produce the vehicles we buy in Australia. Those countries who have committed to a 100 per cent ban include China, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Canada, Slovenia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and 12 states from the United States.

Australia did not sign the agreement, only the Australian Capital Territory did, in the same way only the governments of separate US states did and not the entire country.

Many of the countries that signed set even earlier dates of between 2030 and 2035, but some European countries have since expressed doubt as to whether such an early target can be reached due to the enormous effect it would have on industry, commerce and affordability for consumers.

The UK also wobbled on the date originally setting a 2030 deadline, then extended it to 2035, but it now appears to be reverting to 2030 again.

A main concern was the lack of affordability of electric vehicles but legislation allowing the sales of petrol-electric hybrid is being passed so that a 2030 deadline can be restored with more leniency towards consumer’s budgets.

Not everybody is happy about the push to ban petrol vehicles. The slow down in the uptake of electric vehicles has carmakers concerned about the UK’s looming ban on petrol and diesel. Many car manufacturers also feel that policy is moving faster than the ability for the industry that has made only combustion powered vehicles for more than a century to adapt through re-tooling and re-training.

Automotive giant Stellantis, which includes 14 brands from Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Fiat, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler to Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and Vauxhal is against the UK’s ban decision. Stellantis Group Managing Director Maria Grazia Davino told a press conference recently that if the UK went ahead with the ban Stellantis would respond by closing down production of its vehicles in the UK.

"Stellantis UK does not stop, but Stellantis production in the UK could stop...if this market becomes hostile to us, we will enter an evaluation for producing elsewhere,” she said.

It’s not just carmakers but countries that are beginning to speak out on a petrol and diesel ban. Italy and Germany are opposed to the European Union’s 2035 ban.

"We believe it's absolutely necessary to modify the direction of EU industrial policy," Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said this week.

Australia could also bring in a ban nationwide. A Climate Council report earlier this year recommended petrol and diesel vehicles be banned from sale by 2035.

Transport emissions are a serious health problem. New research by the University of Melbourne shows that vehicle emissions in Australia may cause 11,105 premature deaths in adults per year, along with 12,210 cardiovascular and 6840 respiratory hospitalisations per year.

It makes sense that the uptake of vehicles with zero exhaust emissions should encouraged if pollution is to be reduced, even if for the most part the manufacturing of them and the powering of them isn’t at all clean yet.

So, what would happen to all the combustion engine vehicles if the ban were to be brought in for Australia?

Well, if the ban were to replicate that of the UK and other nations it would only prohibit the sale of new petrol cars, but allow the sale of used and secondhand petrol cars.

Under that legislation you could continue buying petrol cars as long as they were used vehicles. So the ban really is aimed at forcing manufacturers to stop producing petrol vehicles, while allowing consumers to continue driving them.

Eventually, however, the age of the exisiting petrol vehicles will get quite old until there will be fewer and fewer on the road. The answer then is that as they are removed from use, the vehicles will be scrapped.

Will there ever come a time when driving your petrol car will be illegal?

Maybe not illegal, but the cost of registration could be increased on vehicles that don’t meet emission levels and that in itself might make it hard for many to continue to do keep owning them.

Earlier this year the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) was formally passed by the Australian government as a way to force car makers to sell vehicles that meet an emissions standard or be hit with a penalty.

If you’re a car enthusiast there doesn’t appear to be any major reasons to be concerned about the government forcing you to give up your classic any time soon.

If anything because these classics are looked after and cherished they could be the last remaining combustion engine vehicles in existence in decades to come, making them even more special.