A plan to fight climate change involves ensuring emissions from motor vehicles fall by 55% by 2030 and drop to zero by 2035. Photo: AFP The European Commission wants to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, under a massive plan to fight climate change unveiled recently. According to one of a dozen draft laws revealed in Brussels, emissions from motor vehicles must fall by 55% by 2030 and drop to zero by 2035. "As a result, all new cars registered as of 2035 will be zero emission," the statement announcing the plan said. This would in practice mean that all cars and light vans sold from that date will be battery-powered electric cars, which currently represent less than a tenth of new registrations in the EU.