The Prime Minister has announced that the Government will postpone the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030. In what he described as “a new approach to achieving net zero”, Rishi Sunak said that it would be pushed back by five years to 2035.
In his statement, Sunak said that “we’re working hard to make the UK a world leader” in electric vehicles, citing that “we’ve already attracted billions of new investment.”
He added: “I expect by 2030 the vast majority of cars sold will be electric, because the costs are reducing, the range is improving, the charging infrastructure is growing. I also think, at least for now, it should be you that makes that choice, not the government forcing you to do it. Because the upfront cost is high. We’ve got further to go to get the charging infrastructure in place.
“So to give us more time to prepare we’re going to ease the transition to electric vehicles. You’ll still be able to buy a combustion engined vehicle until 2035.”
There has been a mixed reaction from vehicle manufacturers who have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in achieving the 2030 target.
