Petrol And Diesel Vehicle Ban Delayed Until 2035

It was announced last night, by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, that the introduction of a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars has been pushed back five years, from 2030 to 2035.

The Announcement On The Petrol And Diesel Vehicle Ban

The Prime Minister started his announcement by saying that the government is “completely committed” to hitting the net zero by 2050 target which former leader, Theresa May set in 2019. This means that, by 2050, the government expects the UK to not be adding any additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Mr Sunak went on to say “This country is proud to be a world leader in reaching net zero by 2050. But we simply won’t achieve it unless we change. We’ll now have a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach that eases the burdens on families.”

He then went on to say that, even though an electric car is sold every 60 seconds in the UK, the government believes that there are challenges to be overcome before they become the most common form of transport. These challenges include high costs, practicality, and a lack of infrastructure for charging the vehicles. It was for these reasons that he announced the introduction of the ban will be pushed back until 2035.

Electric Vehicles

In August this year, electric vehicles were responsible for 20% of all new car registrations, with 17,243 new electric cars registered.

Up until the end of last month, there were close to 1.4 million plug-in cars registered for the road in the UK. Around 850,000 of these were full-electric vehicles and 530,000 were hybrids.

For the car manufacturers that have already spent huge amounts of money to transition over to electric cars, this delay is something of a disappointment.

What Does All This Actually Mean?

As with most government announcements, it is unclear exactly what the result of this extension will be. However, there have already been several predictions.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) advises the government on cutting carbon emissions. Earlier this year, the CCC said that the government’s progress towards its net zero commitments was “worryingly slow”. Despite acting as advisors, the CCC says it wasn’t consulted before the Prime Minister made his announcement.

The chair of Ford UK, Lisa Brankin, released a statement yesterday saying ” The UK 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future. Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.”

This follows Ford’s current investment of £430 million into its UK facilities with further investment planned to meet the initial 2030 date.

Petrol And Diesel Vehicle Ban

The plan to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles will only impact brand-new vehicles (at least initially). Internal combustion-powered vehicles will still be able to be purchased used and the fuel will still be available long after the introduction of the ban. However, it seems feasible that, at some point, the government will ban this type of vehicle altogether.

This delay of five years certainly gives us more time to transition to an alternative fuel for our cars if nothing else.

It will be interesting to see the true impact of Rishi Sunak’s announcement in the next few years. It’s difficult to accurately guess how the automotive industry will look by the end of the next decade or two!