The British government has announced diesel vehicles, the main cause of pollution in London, will be banned in 23 years, from 2040.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove says new petrol vehicles will also suffer the same fate.
France has the same target as Britain, while Norway's is just eight years away, in 2025.
But in Australia, News Corp motoring analyst Josh Dowling says Australia would be a longer way off.
But Beyond Zero Emissions' Michael Lord says he disagrees, suggesting Australia could make the change in less than 10 years.
But there are challenges with the size of Australia, and the fact not many people are buying electric cars.
Last year, almost 1.2 million new cars were sold in Australia.
More than 1.1 million were petrol or diesel.
Only 12,800 were hybrid or electric -- just 1 per cent of the market.
Josh Dowling says that does not suggest people are ready.
The Queensland government is trying to create that demand, announcing today (thur) 18 fast-charging stations will be installed from the Gold Coast to Cairns.
It will be the longest electric-vehicle super-highway in the world and will be installed over the next six months.
Early usage is expected to be low -- there are only 700 fully electric vehicles registered in Queensland.
