A plan to eliminate gasoline vehicles by the mid-2030s has been announced by the Japanese government, according to a report published by Reuters. The decision is part of a wider policy known as “green growth strategy”, pledged by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in October of this year, to reach zero net carbon emissions and achieve 190 trillion yen ($1.8 trillion USD) in additional economic growth through green investment and sales by 2050.
Suga intends to bring Japan in line with China, the European Union, the U.K. and other economies which also aim to eliminate gasoline vehicles as part of ambitious plans to curb vehicle emissions, in addition to reviving an economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like similar plans elsewhere, this one makes a distinction between vehicles powered only by gasoline and gasoline-electric hybrids, which will still be allowed. In order to make both hybrids and full EVs more affordable, Japan intends to reduce the cost of vehicle batteries by more than half to 10,000 yen (approximately $96) or less per kilowatt-hour by 2030. With regard to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, Japan intends to boost hydrogen consumption in both transportation and power generation from 200 tonnes (200 US tons) in 2017 to three million tonnes (3.3 million US tons) by 2030 and around 20 million tonnes (22 million US tons) by 2050.
Diesel vehicles are not mentioned in the report, but although they have become more popular in Japan in recent years they are still not widespread. According to Statista, the number of diesel passenger vehicles in use in Japan reached 1.29 million in 2019. Nippon.com, combining statistics from the Japanese Automobile Dealers Association and the Japanese Mini Vehicles Association, reported that nearly 5.9 million cars using all types of fuel were sold in that year alone. Honda, one of Japan’s leading car manufacturers and the world’s largest engine producer, was for many years so uninterested in diesel engines for passenger cars that it did not put one into production until 2003, and did so then only to satisfy demand in European markets.
Japan’s plant to eliminate gasoline vehicles will have limited impact on General Motors, which currently has a very small presence in the Asian country. The General currently offers only a handful of vehicles there, including the Chevy Camaro and Corvette, along with the Cadillac XT5, XT6 and Escalade. Incidentally, the all-new, 2021 Cadillac Escalade, which recently went on pre-order in Japan, will be sold there exclusively with the 6.2L V8 L87 gasoline EcoTec3 engine and not the 3.0L I6 LM2 turbodiesel Duramax motor.
However, the policy could help to open the Japanese market for The General in future. Although there are no Cadillac EVs on sale at present, GM Authority and sister publication Cadillac Society jointly forecast in early December that half of the luxury brand’s range in the U.S. will consist of EVs as soon as 2025. The upcoming Cadillac Lyriq, due to go on sale in Q1 of 2022, will be the first in a series of six such models which will also include an all-electric version of the new Escalade. Ex-Cadillac president Steve Carlisle stated in December 2019 that the line-up might consist mostly, if not entirely, of electric vehicles by 2030.
GM CEO Mary Barra went further in November of this year, stating that General Motors as a whole is “transitioning to an all-electric portfolio” as she announced that 30 new GM electric vehicles would go on sale worldwide by 2025.
Comments
It’s so funny that the writer thinks there is a chance the moniker “gasoline vehicle” will not include diesel vehicles and they will be able to survive by exploiting this loophole and go under the radar for many years and roam the streets with their noisy and smoky engines.
That is not even close to what the writer thinks.
Japan has no oil deposits. In fact, if you read up on “why” they launched the attack on pearl harbor, the USA stopping oil trade with Japan led the japs to think they needed to attack. I think that’s part of the reason Japan is more heavily focused on fuel cells. Batteries still require rare earth metals from China while fuel cells don’t. And i don’t think Japan like the Chinese much….
Chinese don’t “like” Japanese very much either. What kinds of fuel cells ?
Jake
Rare earth metals are used to make the powerful magnets in electric motors. Since both battery and fuel cell vehicles use electric motors there’s no savings there.
Fuel Cells use a thin layer of platinum to get Hydrogen and Oxygen to react. Which ain’t cheap. GM has been working to reduce the amount of Platinum needed. For Toyota, fuel cells are a gimmick to extend the life of its Hybrids.
Pearl Harbor took years of planning. It would have been much easier to negotiate a treaty with the U.S.
If it was just about oil.
Any scientist will tell you that fuel cells are the future. The problem is the infrastructure which many countries will be building including China. China will be so huge, they need all forms of energy.
How do you Americans feel that you are having the equivalent of a 9/11 and soon a Pearl Harbour every day due to completely incompetent leadership? I’m surprised that so many don’t seem to care.
Nigel
Geology is one of the sciences, and they all agree that their is not enough Platinum on Earth to run all are vehicles on fuel cells.
Humans always find solutions to what may be thought to be impossible now.
IC is gone because it has to for humans to survive.
What are the Nipponese going to do to generate all the incredible amounts of additional Electricity needed to re-charge those electric vehicles…Build more Fukushima Nuke plants ?
Yeah, Somehow all the nations, the most powerful countries of the world Germany, Japan, UK, China are all dummies, they don’t know what they’re doing and can’t anticipate how much electricity they would need… only if they read comment section of gmauthority.
Slider,
It amazes me how many stupid people comment on this site. They should be confined to read only.
What is Japan going to do to generate all the incredible amounts of additional electricity needed to re-charge those battery-powered vehicles…..Build more Fukushima Nuke plants ?
Keep in mind that that flawed Nuclear plant was built by General Electric
Bill
The tsunami knocked out the plants diesel generators. Which are there to keep water flowing over the nuclear material in case of emergency. GE had nothing to do with the positioning of the diesel generators.
It was a flawed design for that part of the world. The plant is still spewing radiation after all these years and still no solution in sight.
Bob White
Can you please elaborate on that.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/07/national/eight-years-triple-meltdown-fukushima-no-1s-water-woes-slow-recede/
Remove the XX before the link. There are hundreds of similar articles.
XXhttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/07/national/eight-years-triple-meltdown-fukushima-no-1s-water-woes-slow-recede/
Bob White
GE alive
Japan spending Billions constructing tanks to hold the waste water.
Proving once again that this was Japan’s Fault
GE is alive and this proves what?
English is obviously not your first language.
Bob White
Tell it to my middle finger.
I make a point to never argue with an idiot. Believe whatever you want.
Bob White
You have no facts, and you referenced an article that only speaks of the disasters aftermath. It makes no mention of GE or any of the shortcomings at Fukushima.
You probably hear the words: Idiot & English as a second language very regularly in your daily life. You’re not bright enough to come up with anything on your own.
Answer the question.
probably the same thing the rest of the world is going to do. more renewables and instead of coal, use gas.
American cars are blocked in Japan through a very complex web of barriers in order to favour their own brands.
The Japanese are smart as they support their own. Americans…
americans do their part by making mediocre products.
america has almost nothing to offer the japanese market.
japanese looking for luxury/performance other than japanese go european and everything else is served by the domestics.
American cars are blocked in Japan through a very complex web of barriers in order to favour their own brands.
The Japanese are smart as they support their own. Americans…
How is this plan supposed to boost the economy? By making it harder to get around? Making everybody take the gas burners they own to the land fill? Next they will want to eliminate certain people.
Not happening. France has similar plans, and with my traveling for work, they will push the deadlines back indefinitely, just like brexit, 5 years later and NADA. If you can’t trust large companies like real and GM to make their ambitious EV deadlines, do you really trust governments??? Not happening.
Not happening. With my traveling and working in France, I can tell you that Frances similar goals to move to EV’s is not going to work well with the French. Just like brexit, which has gotten nowhere in 5 years, it will get pushed back indefinitely. If dreamers like elon musk at Tesla and “marry Barra” fail to reach their “2 more years” deadline repeatedly, governments will never reach their deadlines and will push it back without hesitation. It’s PR, and only PR. Just like every year we here “war on drugs, war on drugs”
I hope Japan doesn’t ban the sale of gas cars.
With the price of Zero Emissions gas coming way down I think that a better way to improve the environment would be to impose a carbon tax (on all carbon taken out of the ground) that slowly gets larger until it equals the cost of removing the carbon from the air. Then gas will cost more than it does now (because of how expensive carbon capture is) but it will let us decide whether to buy a gas car (and pay for more expensive gas) or buy an EV. In this plan you the consumer would decide what is best (most economical, most fun, ect.) car to buy for your self and not let the government control you as much. And it would save the environment because all the carbon will be removed from the air.
Bolt
I have this old Kenmore top loading washer/dryer. Using them to do laundry is kind of like driving a Corolla. Do you think I should put them into storage so my grandkids could experience the thrill of driving a Japanese car?
I Hope that Japan doesn’t ban gas cars.
With the price of Zero Emissions gas coming way down I think that a better way to improve the environment would be to impose a carbon tax (on all carbon taken out of the ground) that slowly gets larger until it equals the cost of removing the carbon from the air. Then gas will cost more than it does now (because of how expensive carbon capture is) but it will let us decide whether to buy a gas car (and pay for more expensive gas) or buy an EV. In this plan you the consumer would decide what is best (most economical, most fun, ect.) car to buy for your self and not let the government control you as much. And it would save the environment because all the carbon will be removed from the air.