In the car shop the other day was an elderly couple who were looking for a car that they could have until they could no longer drive a car.

They had realized that they would not buy any more car in this mortal life.

They were looking for the death car.

The choice became a petrol car.

A car that would survive them for at least ten years.

Rational perhaps, but wise?

Electric car cheaper than fossil car

One of the perhaps worst climate decisions you can make is to put a new fossil car on the market.

In the worst case, it will run on gasoline by you, and others, for about twenty years.

At best, it will be refueled with renewable fuels, but still cause carbon dioxide emissions.

If the climate goals are to be achieved, in the long run, according to the European Commission, only cars with zero emissions will remain, ie clean electric cars and hydrogen cars that run on renewable electricity.

Not everyone can afford to buy a new car, and many are forced to drive a used and dirty car against their will.

But when you include all costs, the electric car can compete according to the industry association Bil Sweden and others.

A large part of the explanation is lower operating costs.

It only costs half as much to run on electricity as on petrol.

At best, only a quarter.

Sweden tops the EU league

Together with lower service costs and low taxes, the electric car can sometimes be a better deal.

Many Swedes have now begun to realize this, frightened by fossil taxation and helped by state money in their pockets for climate bonuses and charging posts.

In January, just over every other car sold was rechargeable, and pure electric cars have increased by 367 percent in one year thanks to new models.

Sweden tops the EU league for rechargeable cars (but ends up after Norway).

And according to a new survey, two thirds of Europeans, like Swedes, state that the next car they buy will be rechargeable.

Are we facing an electric car boom?

Car companies are also about to abandon cars with internal combustion engines.

Manufacturers with that goal already account for 27 percent of the car market according to Bloomberg.

It is, for example, Volvo, Audi, Fiat, GM, WV, Renault, Mercedes and more that will stop manufacturing cars with exhaust pipes within 10-15 years.

And the sales forecasts for emission-free cars have had to be increased.

Bloomberg now says 70 percent in 2040. That's 20 percent more than they thought just two years ago.

That would mean a global electric car explosion.

Today, only seven percent of global new car sales are made up of ZEV's, zero emission vehicles.

But now battery prices are falling and then the price tag on electric cars is shrinking.

Already next year, Bloomberg believes that a large electric car costs as much as a similar petrol or diesel car in Europe.

Zero emissions for new cars 2035

Transport emissions must be reduced by 90 percent by 2050 according to the EU.

Therefore, the Commission has proposed a criticized system for emissions trading for transport, which should be gradually tightened, and set a goal that cars sold in the EU after 2035 should have zero emissions.

And a Swedish inquiry has proposed that it should apply in Sweden from 2030. 

So an answer to the question when the last new car with an exhaust pipe is sold may be sometime in the 30s.

But with today's pace in electric car sales, the answer is probably: rather than you think. 

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