Most major markets are targeting 2035 as the year new internal combustion engine cars can no longer be sold. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and California have all set that date into law, though the rules vary in scope and exceptions. No country has announced a ban on driving existing gasoline or diesel cars, so vehicles already on the road will remain legal well beyond these deadlines.
European Union: 2035 for All New Cars and Vans
The EU has passed legislation requiring that all new cars and vans sold from 2035 produce zero CO2 emissions. That effectively ends the sale of new gasoline, diesel, and conventional hybrid vehicles across all 27 member states. The regulation includes interim targets: a 55% cut in car emissions and a 50% cut in van emissions by 2030, compared to 2021 levels.
Because the rule is written around CO2 output rather than engine type, it also eliminates plug-in hybrids. Any new vehicle that burns fuel and emits CO2 at the tailpipe won’t qualify. There is a narrow carve-out under discussion for vehicles running on carbon-neutral synthetic fuels (e-fuels), but the production and availability of those fuels remains extremely limited.
United Kingdom: Phased Targets Through 2035
The UK has written its own zero-emission vehicle mandate into law, separate from the EU’s rules. It requires 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain to be zero emission by 2030, rising to 100% by 2035. Manufacturers face annual percentage targets for each year leading up to 2030, giving automakers a clear ramp rather than a single cliff-edge deadline.
This structure means the transition will be gradual. By the late 2020s, the majority of new vehicles on UK forecourts will already be electric, and the final 2035 cutoff simply closes the door on the remainder.
United States: A State-by-State Approach
The U.S. has no single federal ban on internal combustion engines. Instead, the most significant regulation comes from California, whose Advanced Clean Cars II rule requires 100% of new passenger vehicles to meet zero-emission standards by the 2035 model year. Plug-in hybrids still qualify under this rule, unlike the EU’s stricter zero-tailpipe approach.
California’s regulations matter beyond its own borders because more than a dozen other states, including New York, Oregon, and Washington, have historically adopted California’s vehicle emission standards. If those states follow suit on this rule, roughly a third of the U.S. new car market would effectively phase out traditional combustion-only vehicles by 2035. States that haven’t adopted California’s standards have no ICE ban on the horizon, and federal policy as of 2025 has not set one.
China: Market Shift Without a Hard Ban
China has taken a different approach. Rather than legislating a specific ban date, the government has used subsidies, manufacturing incentives, and infrastructure investment to make electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (collectively called New Energy Vehicles, or NEVs) the dominant choice. Under China’s transport planning through 2035, electric vehicles are expected to become the mainstream of new vehicle sales, with large-scale adoption of new energy heavy-duty trucks also targeted.
The strategy has worked faster than most analysts predicted. NEVs already account for more than half of new car sales in China, meaning the market itself may phase out combustion engines before any formal ban becomes necessary.
Other Notable Deadlines
Norway, often cited as the global leader, set a target of 100% zero-emission new car sales by 2025. It isn’t technically a ban (there’s no law preventing the sale of a gas car), but tax policy makes combustion vehicles so expensive that electric cars already dominate the market there.
Japan and South Korea have announced ambitions to phase out conventional engines by the mid-2030s but have been more cautious about hard deadlines, partly because their automakers are heavily invested in hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid technology. India has discussed 2030 targets for certain vehicle segments but hasn’t enacted binding legislation for passenger cars.
Trucks and Heavy Vehicles Come Later
Bans on combustion engines in passenger cars don’t automatically extend to freight trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles. These are on a slower timeline everywhere. In the U.S., the EPA finalized greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles covering model years 2027 through 2032, with full phase-in by 2032. These standards tighten emissions significantly but don’t require zero emissions. A separate federal strategy aims to build a zero-emission freight network across the country by 2040.
The EU has proposed a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles by 2040, with zero-emission mandates for city buses coming sooner. The challenge is that long-haul trucking demands energy density and refueling speed that current battery technology handles less easily than it does for passenger cars, which is why timelines for these vehicles lag by five to ten years.
What These Bans Don’t Cover
Every major ban targets the sale of new vehicles, not ownership or use of existing ones. If you buy a gasoline car in 2034, you’ll still be able to drive it, insure it, and register it after 2035. Used car sales of combustion vehicles will also remain legal. The practical lifespan of cars on the road means gasoline and diesel vehicles will be common on highways well into the 2050s, even in regions with the strictest rules.
Fuel availability will likely decline gradually as demand drops, but gas stations aren’t going to vanish overnight. The bigger near-term concern for buyers is resale value: as electric vehicles become the norm, demand for used combustion cars may soften, particularly in markets with strong regulatory pressure.
Charging Infrastructure to Support the Shift
Banning new combustion cars only works if the charging network can handle tens of millions of electric vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the country will need roughly 28 million EV charging ports by 2030 to support a projected 33 million electric vehicles. The vast majority of those will be slower chargers at homes, apartments, and workplaces. Around 182,000 fast-charging ports at public stations would handle long-distance travel and serve drivers without access to home charging.
The EU has set its own targets requiring member states to install public charging stations at regular intervals along major highways. Whether infrastructure keeps pace with vehicle sales is one of the biggest open questions in every market, and delays in charger deployment are among the most common reasons governments have softened or pushed back their original timelines.