It seems that more and more nations are beginning to adopt a policy of allowing only brand new electric-powered vehicles to be sold in their jurisdictions in the near future. Recently, Indonesia (currently Southeast Asia’s largest motorcycle market) declared that no more brand new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) motorcycles should be sold in the country by 2050.
Singapore also adopted a similar policy by banning motorcycles they consider “old” from their streets by 2028. India, as well as some European nations, had already enacted similar measures earlier. Now, Canada is the newest country that’s taking on drastic measures to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions.
In a recent announcement from the Canadian government agency, Transport Canada (TC), which is the Philippines’ DOTr counterpart, they are accelerating the complete eradication of ICE-powered vehicles by outlawing them by 2035 – which is 5-years earlier than the original 2040 plan.
“Today, we take another important step on the road to net zero by accelerating our zero-emission vehicle targets to 2035. Achieving this target will require all Canadians, and businesses big and small, to embrace the change and go electric. That is why we will continue to invest in measures that put Canadians in the driver’s seat to a net zero future,” said Seamus O’Regan Jr , the Canadian minister of natural resources.
To put it simply, the sale of all brand-new, light to medium duty road vehicles powered by internal combustion engines will be banned by 2035.
Are ICE motorcycles included in the ban?
Well, that’s still for clarification. According to Rideapart.com, this is what the Canadian government had to say about two-wheelers being included in the ban:
“Transportation is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, accounting for a quarter of Canada's total emissions. At the moment, the Government of Canada’s objective is to reduce emissions from cars and light trucks, which together represent half of transportation greenhouse gas emissions.”
As such, it looks like motorcycles are safe for the mean time.
Will the Philippines follow?
Currently, Pinoy petrol heads have nothing to worry about, since our country has yet to come up with a clear-cut and cost-effective policy to reduce our greenhouse emissions. In fact, the current emissions restriction for motorcycles is still at Euro-3. But who knows?
The election season is just around the corner and it is very likely that one of the candidates seeking office may just have an EV-only policy included in his or her platform.
