Government to reinstate 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars

The ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 will be reinstated, the Department for Transport has confirmed.

The 2030 ban was a Labour Party manifesto pledge but there was no mention of the commitment in the King’s Speech last month.

However, a DfT spokesperson told Carwow: “We’re committed to delivering greener transport by supporting the transition to electric vehicles.

“This includes phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and accelerating the rollout of charge points. We will set out more details in due course.”

So while the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles is confirmed, it’s still unclear on the fate of the sale of new hybrid cars.

UPDATE: SEE Hybrid cars exempt from UK’s 2030 petrol and diesel ban

Response to reinstatement of 2030 ban

The industry body representing car makers and car traders said ultimately it will be consumers who will determine the pace of the switch to electric cars.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) told Carwow: “The automotive industry is engaging with the new government on its proposals for an industrial strategy as well as measures to support the decarbonisation of road transport.

“As was set out in Labour’s Automotive Sector Plan published last Autumn, phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be central to this but must be managed in such a way as to support consumers, industry and other stakeholders – such as infrastructure providers – all of whom have a role to play.

“The automotive sector remains committed to this goal, as evidenced by the billions invested in new technologies, facilities and products, but it is consumer confidence and demand that will ultimately determine the pace of the transition.”

The Department for Transport also reiterated its support for accelerating the roll out of charge points. Antoine Picron, senior policy manager for ChargePoint sounded optimstic about the UK’s switch to EVs. He told Carwow: “We believe transitioning to an EV is one of the single biggest behavioural changes drivers can make to reduce carbon emissions and ensure the UK achieves its net zero ambitions, as well as support the shift to cleaner transportation.”

2030 petrol and diesel ban, the back and forth story so far

The original announcement to introduce the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars was made by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in November 2020.

It was part of a package aiming to increase access to electric cars and promote ‘a green economic recovery’.

However, Last September, the then Conservative prime minister, Rishi Sunak, postponed the deadline from 2030 to 2035 saying the original ban would: “impose unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families”, and that the government could “adopt a more pragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach to meeting net zero which eases the burden on working people”.

The reinstatement of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars was a Labour commitment in its 2024 General Election manifesto.

There was little detail in the manifesto on how and when the ban would be phased in. However Jonathan Reynolds, at the time Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy, gave more detail in the Party’s automotive plan published last October: “The decision to water down the 2030 phase out of petrol and diesel vehicles is a huge setback for manufacturers who will have spent enormous amounts of money and time on the basis of these targets.”

The plan also said pushing back the date of the phase out would ultimately raise costs for British families by “billions of pounds”, because “electric vehicles have cheaper lifetime costs than petrol cars, and by 2030 are expected to have lower upfront costs.

The 2030 ban was one of six commitments the Labour party made ahead of the 2024 general election alongside fixing 1 million potholes, investigating car insurance prices, expanding the EV charging network, developing clear electric car battery standards and to provide funding for gigafactories.

Carwow manifesto

Ahead of the 2024 General Election, the Carwow Group set out the 10 steps the new government needed to take to help motorists. While we didn’t specifically call for a reintroduction of the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars, we laid out plans on how the government could encourage the switch to electric cars.

Find out more in the Future of Motoring Manifesto.