On 6 July Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announces that France will ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040. Three weeks later his example is followed by the UK Government, announcing that new diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK as of 2040. At the same time BMW announces that an electric version of the Mini will be built in the UK from 2019. On 5 July Chinese-owned Volvo announces that all its new models will be electric or hybrid from 2019. Also in July, Tesla delivers its 1st Model 3 electrical car, a smaller version at USD $35,000 that will target the mainstream market. While electrical cars make up only about 1% of global car production, experts expect a major switch-over to electric cars by the mid-2020s. After 2040 petrol or diesel cars will be in the minority, with 70-80% of new vehicles expected to be electric in France and the UK by 2040.
