France moving to all electric cars by 2040

French environment minister Nicolas Hulot (AAP) Source: French environment minister Nicolas Hulot (AAP)

France has announced an ambitious plan to ban all petrol and diesel cars by 2040. It comes as Sweden's Volvo pledges to go all-electric and become the first major car-maker to phase out production of petrol-only cars from 2019. Analysts say more consumers are demanding low-emissions vehicles but it will not mean the end of combustion engines -- for now.