Boris Johnson Announces 2030 New Petrol and Diesel Vehicle Sales Ban
Boris Johnson announced a 10-point “green recovery” plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
Johnson said this plan would create 250,000 jobs, attract £12bn of Government investment (and three times that from private sources) and see the UK become “the Saudi Arabia” of offshore wind energy.
He said “We’ll invest more than £2.8bn in electric vehicles, lacing the land with charging points and creating long-lasting batteries in UK gigafactories. This will allow us to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in 2030. However, we will allow the sale of hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe until 2035.”
“There will be electric vehicle technicians in the Midlands, construction and installation workers in the North East and Wales, specialists in advanced fuels in the North West, agroforestry practitioners in Scotland, and grid system installers everywhere. And we will help people train for these new green jobs through our Lifetime Skills Guarantee.”
Sue Robinson, NFDA Chief Executive, said “The new deadline is challenging and despite the continued improvement to the charging infrastructure, there remain a number of practical barriers to the uptake of EVs.
“It is encouraging that hybrids are being given a later phase-out date during this transition as they represent an important steppingstone technology for many motorists who are interested in buying an electric vehicle, but do not yet feel able to go fully electric.
“Strong incentives are key to ensuring the UK remains a strong consumer market for electric cars as the market begins to mature. We have to avoid a situation where the least well-off car drivers are deterred from buying a new car when the time comes to replace their old one.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said “We share government’s ambition for leadership in decarbonising road transport and are committed to the journey.
“Manufacturers have invested billions to deliver vehicles that are already helping thousands of drivers switch to zero, but this new deadline, fast-tracked by a decade, sets an immense challenge.
“Success will depend on reassuring consumers that they can afford these new technologies, that they will deliver their mobility needs and, critically, that they can recharge as easily as they refuel.”
Steve Nash, Chief Executive of the IMI, commented on the Prime Minister’s announcement, saying: “The implications for the automotive industry are monumental; manufacturers now know that they must replace their entire product offering with electrified vehicles in less than 10 years.
“That can surely only mean that their ranges will shrink significantly compared to today. Let’s hope that consumer choice remains front and centre.
“Whilst the devil is certainly going to be in the detail, and the IMI welcomes the opportunity to engage with government to provide input for its plans, we are concerned that, as usual, it seems little thought has been given to the swathe of businesses and individuals employed by the automotive industry beyond manufacturing.
“Yet it is this ecosystem – from the distribution chain of car dealers to service and repair and even accident recovery – that fundamentally underpins the government’s ambitions.
“If the new parc of electric vehicles can’t be serviced and repaired safely the whole plan will stall on the starting grid.”
“Government action is needed urgently to encourage automotive employers to re-ignite their EV training plans.”
The UK Government’s 10-point “green recovery” plan, as spelled out by the Prime Minister, vows to:
- Make the UK the Saudi Arabia of wind with enough offshore capacity to power every home by 2030.
- Turn water into energy with up to £500m of investment in hydrogen.
- Take forward our plans for new nuclear power, from large scale to small and advanced modular reactors.
- Invest more than £2.8bn in EVs to facilitate the 2030 ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, allowing the sale of hybrid cars and vans that can drive “a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe” until 2035.
- Have cleaner public transport, including thousands of green buses and hundreds of miles of new cycle lanes.
- Strive to repeat the feat of Jack Alcock and Teddie Brown, who achieved the first nonstop transatlantic flight a century ago, with a zero-emission plane. And we will do the same with ships.
- Invest £1bn next year to make homes, schools and hospitals greener, and energy bills lower.
- Establish a new world-leading industry in carbon capture and storage, backed by £1bn of government investment for clusters across the North, Wales and Scotland.
- Harness nature’s ability to absorb carbon by planting 30,000 hectares of trees a year by 2025 and rewilding 30,000 football pitches’ worth of countryside.
- Deliver a £1bn energy innovation fund to help commercialise new low-carbon technologies, like the world’s first liquid air battery being developed in Trafford.
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