SANTIAGO, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chile will ban sales of most internal combustion  vehicles in support of electric vehicles starting in 2035, the Chilean  government announced Friday as part of its National Electromobility  Strategy.

All sales of light and medium vehicles, public transit and large machinery, will be  zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

"Today is  a historic day for Chile. We have a new electromobility strategy, which allows  us to accelerate our goals and align ourselves with international standards,"  Chile's Minister of Energy and Mining Juan Carlos Jobet told local media.

"We will  improve Chileans' quality of life, contribute to our industries'  competitiveness, and provide a clean and optimal electrical grid for the  development of electromobility," Jobet said.

Minister  of Transport and Telecommunications Gloria Hutt said that the development of  electromobility "is key to advancing toward more sustainable cities, where  public transport plays a fundamental role."

"We have  been promoting this revolutionary change and that is why about 1,000 electric  buses will be incorporated into the (Santiago) metropolitan public transit  system, bringing the total to over 1,700 buses in circulation," Hutt said,  adding that electric buses will also be introduced in other regions of the  country.

Over a  third of Chile's energy consumption is in the transportation sector, with almost  all using fossil fuels.