The sale of diesel and petrol-powered vehicles is to be phased out and banned entirely by 2030 in the UK as the government moves towards its goal of becoming completely carbon-neutral by 2050.
Electric car
Boris Johnson's government have already pledged to power all UK homes with wind power by 2030 as they attempt to phase out fossil fuels entirely following a global trend to move towards more renewable models.
Back in February, the prime minister announced his intention to bring forward the ban, which was previously set for 2045.
Johnson has said he hopes this will propel the UK's EV market and encourage automakers to make the switch.
Ministers were expected to keep to the more stringent 2035 target, which was also proposed by Johnson before the announcement of the 2030 deadline.
As of last month, electric vehicle sales still hall 7% below those of traditional engines.
The automotive industry has long argued that significant funding infrastructure is needed in order to make it easier for carmakers to shift production solely to electric vehicles.
The government is expected to roll out at least £500 million (€560 million) in funding over the next twelve months into such infrastructure such as new grid connections, remote motorway services and charging stations.
The industry has also called for hybrid vehicles to be slowly phased out in an effort to make it fully carbon-neutral.
One-in-four cars sold in the UK are hybrid vehicles, which represents a significant hurdle to overcome.
Many automakers have criticised the government's decision.
Toyota has warned that phasing out hybrid vehicles could jeopardise future investments in the UK.
Similarly, Honda said that relying solely on electric cars within 15 years is "too narrow," adding that all its models sold in the UK by 2022 with being hybrids.
The company said in a statement: “There are technological and resource constraints that will be more difficult to overcome and which mean that battery-electric cannot replace internal combustion engines in all segments."
Johnson is expected to make the announcement this week, followed by plans to make the economy greener.
Aside from wind power providing electricity to all homes and all cars switching to electric, the UK is expected to make gains in gree hydrogen and carbon capture.
He is also expected to announce the creation of more nuclear power plants owing to many of the UK power stations being near the end of their lives, which has also led to automaker Rolls-Royce investing in 16 mini power stations across the nation.
The EU has likewise made a pledge to slash carbon emissions by 55% by 2035, with a view to being completely carbon-neutral by 2050.
It is expected that electric vehicles will dominate the EU automarket by 2050, but analysts predict oil will not have been fully phased out by then.
Likewise, EVs are set to account for at least 25% of all vehicles sales in China by 2025, with predictions of them attaining a 50% market share by 2050.
Many automakers have started productions on entire fleets of electric vehicles to help them get ahead in the transition, such as with Ford announcing its new e-Transit or Volvo unveiling its new heavy-duty truck fleet.
Back to Homepage
Back to Transportation