By Eli Anna
In February 2020, the UK government announced that as a part of their green initiative in tackling the climate change crises, all sales of cars without any significant electrification will be banned in 2030. This is a fairly audacious policy to be introduced and has even been brought back 10 years as opposed to the original plan of introducing the ban in 2040. By 2035, the government has also outlined their plan to completely outlaw new internal combustion engine vehicles are
A completely carbon neutral society by 2050 is what the government is striving to aim for and with such a big shift already being planned for in under 10 years, it will undoubtedly be a big change to many moutrists lives in the UK, leaving many faced with a great dilemma on their hands.
The important things motorists should know about the new plan
Many motorists out there will come to embrace the government’s new plan with the shift to electric cars, with Ofgem research revealing that one in four UK households intend to buy an electric car within the next five years. This shows that there are many who are supportive of the plan, however, there are many motorists out there who will be opposed to the new law.
Here’s an outline of the government’s plan:
- All conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned from sale in 2030.
- The sale of new hybrid vehicles will extend until 2035, only if they can meet the requirement where a hybrid vehicle is capable of reaching a certain distance in zero emission mode. This is a little undefined by the government.
- After 2035 the only new car and vans sales that will be permitted within the UK will be 100% electric vehicles or hydrogen powered cars.
Will second hand cars be affected?
With regards to the government’s plan to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles in 2030, the ‘second hand cars’, or ‘used cars’ will not be affected by the ban. The ban only applies to new petrol and diesel vehicles, which means motorists will be able to sell and buy used cars powered by combustion engines after 2030.
There are predictions that nearer towards 2030 the used car market will likely start to soar with many buyers looking towards prestige used cars by car manufacturers such as Land Rover and Jaguar.
Car dealerships across the UK have already started to account for the gradual shift and interest for electric cars, yet are still very much invested into the used car market. Take for instance, Holders of Congresbury, who have a great selection of used cars in Weston and also the new SEAT range, including the Mii Electric and also the Leon-e Hybrid.
Will electric cars be more expensive?
At the moment, electric cars are more expensive to make, so there is a current premium on electric cars where buyers can expect to pay thousands more than equivalent diesel and petrol models. Near to 2030, price parity is set to come into play as the number of sales will start to increase, which means the cost of production will start to decrease.
At the moment, there are only around 260,000 electric cars on UK roads but this is set to keep increasing by the time the ban is brought into place in 2030. To help with the transition from diesel and petrol to fully electric, the government is investing £1.3 billion is being invested in EV (electrical vehicle) charge points in homes, streets and motorways. Also, a further £582 million will be set aside for grants to help encourage people to opt for EVs and PHEVs (plug in hybrid electrical vehicles).
The bottom line is that change is coming fast and the next few years will start to have an impact on the UK car industry with an unsurprisingly, extensive shift to electrical vehicles.
