If you\u2019ve been driving for more than a few years \u2013 or even if you\u2019ve simply been following the major motoring headlines in that time \u2013 you\u2019ll probably have heard of the proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. It\u2019s the most ambitious plan in decades to change the face of British motoring, and it\u2019s one that\u2019s had a bit of a bumpy ride so far already.<\/p>\n
The first iteration made headlines all the way back in 2017, when the proposed deadline was 2040. Since then, the climate crisis has accelerated, and there\u2019s been a lot of back-and-forth on that deadline \u2013 not helped by the fact that it\u2019s been a bit of a turbulent time in British politics, so different prime ministers have set different dates. The most ambitious so far has been 2030, which climate campaigners argued should be a bare minimum. It was later pushed back by the then-Conservative government.<\/p>\n
With Labour\u2019s election victory in July of this year though, the party has now officially recommitted to the 2030 date. So if you\u2019re one of the many, many people not driving an electric car, or EV, you might be asking \u2013 should I scrap my car<\/strong><\/a>? Well, not quite yet. Here\u2019s what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n There was a lot of talk before the election about Labour\u2019s intention to recommit to the 2030 deadline, but to be honest there wasn\u2019t a whole lot of mystery surrounding it \u2013 largely because it was explicitly mentioned in the party\u2019s manifesto. A spokesman for the Department of Transport later reconfirmed the move in an official comment to Fleet World, reiterating the party\u2019s \u201ccommitment to delivering greener transport by supporting the transition to electric vehicles\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a blanket deadline on all vehicles, so it doesn\u2019t apply to HGVs, for example. There was still some notable ambiguity though \u2013 for example, there were calls on the government to confirm whether or not the ban applied to vans. (It doesn\u2019t appear so.)<\/p>\n Now, speaking of clarifications, we should get this one out of the way quickly: the deadline is just for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. In other words, it\u2019s largely a focus for automotive manufacturers and retailers. It doesn\u2019t mean that your petrol or diesel car becomes illegal to drive the moment the deadline passes \u2013 combustion engines are still likely to be on our roads for quite a while yet.<\/p>\n Even so, the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is still an ambitious goal. However, government sources insist they\u2019ve got the drive (pardon the pun) to get it done. According to the aforementioned industry spokesman: \u201cThe calculation that was done for us as a party demonstrated that delaying five years would cost drivers tens of billions of pounds in higher fuel costs. That was why we made that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n A key crux of the Labour strategy for actually achieving the target is to focus on expanding the number of viable charge points across the UK. It\u2019s an issue which has been well-documented<\/strong> <\/a>in terms of the obstacle it poses to the large-scale rollout of electric vehicles.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still an ambitious target, but campaigners say it\u2019s necessary to get us to where we need to be in terms of our climate goals. Notably, it does look like Labour is trying to moderate itself already \u2013 the original language of the ban suggested that hybrids would be covered, but now the word is that hybrid cars will be excepted until 2035, and that the sale ban will only apply to vehicles with pure internal combustion engines.<\/p>\n To summarise a complex and varied reaction, the response has been\u2026 mixed. Lots of green campaigners have welcomed the recommitment, especially since many of them see it as more or less non-negotiable. A report earlier this summer by the Climate Change Committee<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0said the UK must reinstate the 2030 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car and van sales to reach a critical net zero goal.<\/p>\n However, there are also widespread concerns that it\u2019s an unrealistic goal, especially from figures within the automotive and transport industry. One thing is for certain \u2013 if the government wants to achieve that target, ministers will need to back it up with useful policies to make sure it\u2019s not just an empty target.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry too much on a personal level though \u2013 as we touched on above, you\u2019re likely to have your petrol and diesel car for quite some time yet. Unless of course you were planning to scrap yours \u2013 in which case, you\u2019re in exactly the right place. With more than 40 years of experience behind us here at Scrap Car Network<\/strong><\/a>, we\u2019re committed to making sure we always get you the very best price. All you need to do is enter your\u00a0car reg and postcode<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0into the fields on our site, and we\u2019ll get you an instant online quote before you can say cash for cars. It only takes a few seconds. Curious to find out how much your car is worth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been driving for more than a few years \u2013 or even if you\u2019ve simply been following the major motoring headlines in that time \u2013 you\u2019ll probably have heard of the proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. It\u2019s the most ambitious plan in decades to change the face of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":8222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\nLabour now officially recommits to the 2030 date<\/h2>\n
Quick timeline of the petrol and diesel ban<\/h3>\n
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So what\u2019s Labour\u2019s plan now?<\/h2>\n