The British Government today announced that all petrol and diesel cars sales will be banned in 2030. Wheeler Dealers’ Mike Brewer and Salvage Hunters Classic Cars’ Paul Cowland discuss the impact on both modern and classic motoring.
Sales of new pure petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned from 2030 and hybrids from 2035, the Prime Minister has announced. The move brings forward the original date by ten years and is part of Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan for a ‘green industrial revolution’.
The ban means all traditional petrol and diesel powered cars and vans will disappear from showrooms in 2030, although hybrids that can ‘drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe’ will be allowed on sale until 2035.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma told BBC Breakfast that the £4bn was part of a broader £12bn package of public investment, which “will help to bring in three times as much in terms of private sector money.”
Mr Sharma, who is also president of the COP26 international climate summit that the UK will host next year, said the money would also support the creation of 250,000 green and “high value-added” jobs in parts of the UK “where we want to see levelling up.”
Another key point of the plan is a £1.3bn investment in electric vehicle (EV) charging points. Grants for EV buyers will stretch to £582m to help people make the transition. There is also nearly £500m for battery manufacture in the Midlands and north-east England.
In the race to clean up motoring, the UK is now in second place after Norway, which has a fossil fuel vehicle abolition date of 2025.
UK car makers have warned about the scale of the challenge, but the government believes that forcing technological change can give firms a competitive edge.
But will the ‘green revolution’ achieve its aim of massive job creation? Experts said the £4bn would go a long way if it were spent on labour-intensive insulation, but not far if ploughed into expensive, mechanised carbon capture.
The Prime Minister said: “My 10-point plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050.
“Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the North East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future.”
To support this acceleration of the 10-point plan, the Prime Minister also announced:
- £1.3 billion to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints for electric vehicles in homes, streets and on motorways across England, so people can more easily and conveniently charge their cars.
- £582 million in grants for those buying zero or ultra-low emission vehicles to make them cheaper to buy and incentivise more people to make the transition.
- Nearly £500 million to be spent in the next four years for the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries, as part of our commitment to provide up to £1 billion, boosting international investment into our strong manufacturing bases including in the Midlands and North East.
The government will also launch a consultation on the phase out of new diesel HGVs to put the UK in the vanguard of zero emission freight. No date has been set yet.
Find more info:
GOV.uk
