Okay so maybe the Netherlands won't force its car-driving population to trade their rides in for a Tesla, but what non gasoline-powered car would you buy if the internal combustion engine was off limits? The Model 3 sounds compelling. Either way, if a group of politicians in Holland's labor party get their way, then sales of any gas or diesel-powered car will be banned in the country by 2025. This would be one of the most stringent laws regarding vehicle emissions because if it passes, even the Toyota Prius would be considered too dirty.

Previously, the country had signed onto an international agreement called the Global ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicles) Alliance that would ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines by 2050, but Holland apparently decided to cut the deadline by 25 years. Other signers of the Global ZEV Alliance include Germany, the UK, Norway, Quebec, and seven US states including California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. The agreement states that new cars sold after the deadline will all need to be electric or hydrogen fuel cell cars. If there is any country that could successfully pull off a move like this, it would be Holland due to its progressive mentality.

One interesting clause in this law would be another mandate that pushes for autonomous vehicles to ease traffic problems. But how will this decision impact the rest of the world? Right now, auto markets in countries like Holland aren't exactly big enough to sway carmakers to produce a higher number of EVs. Things will change when 2050 rolls around and laws for the rest of the countries and states on the ZEV alliance take effect. Some of Holland's politicians oppose the law because they don't think the technology will be available or widespread enough by then, but either way this proposition gives us more of an idea as to when the next chapter in the automobile will begin.