Labour to bring back 2030 ban on petrol cars.

The Labour government seems determined to uphold its promise to reintroduce the 2030 phase-out for new petrol and diesel cars, as reported by This is Money and Mail Online Motoring and confirmed by a Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson.

The DfT reaffirmed its commitment to greener transport in a statement to Fleet World, stating: “We’re dedicated to promoting sustainable transport by facilitating the shift to electric vehicles. This includes phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and expediting the installation of charging points. Further details will be disclosed in due course.”

No information has been disclosed regarding plans for hybrid vehicles or the potential impact on the ZEV mandate.

This decision follows the Conservative government’s backtrack on the ICE phase-out, which extended the deadline for new fossil fuel cars and vans sales to 2035. This was then followed by the introduction of the ZEV mandate in January 2024, which reinforced the 2035 end date by imposing increasingly strict EV sales targets on manufacturers.

Labout MP and former Shadow Roads Minister Bill Esterson informed members of the Recharge UK electric vehicle trade group that Labour would reinstate the 2030 deadline for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars following a victory in a general election.

This commitment was reiterated in the party’s election manifesto, pledging to reintroduce the 2030 ICE phase-out for cars (excluding vans) to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. The party promised to support this move by speeding up the deployment of charging points and by assisting buyers of second-hand electric cars by standardising the information on battery condition provided.

Esterson, who is running for the position of chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, emphasised the importance of consumer confidence in implementing the 2030 deadline.

He explained the rationale behind restoring the 2030 deadline, citing a calculation that showed a delay of five years would result in drivers incurring significantly higher fuel costs, amounting to tens of billions of pounds.

An earlier report by the Climate Change Committee highlighted the necessity to reintroduce the 2030 phase-out of new fossil fuel car and van sales to achieve a crucial net zero target. The report stated that the market share of fully electric vehicles (excluding plug-in hybrids) out of all new vehicles sold in the UK must increase from 16.5% for cars and 5.9% for vans in 2023 to between 80% and 100% for cars and 70% to 100% for vans by 2030.

Reactions to the reports on the reinstatement of the 2030 ICE ban varied.

Vicky Read, CEO of ChargeUK, expressed confidence in the ability of the charging industry to meet the needs of drivers in transitioning to electric vehicles, with a public charger being installed every 25 minutes and the steady expansion of infrastructure ahead of demand.

However, Quentin Willson, founder of FairCharge, expressed concerns regarding a potential change to the ICE ban, describing the 2030 date as symbolic and irrelevant given the existing ZEV mandate which mandates 80% EV production by 2030. He cautioned that reinstating the 2030 deadline may do more harm than good.

Thom Groot, CEO of The Electric Car Scheme, welcomed the reinstatement of the 2030 deadline for 100% zero-emission vehicle sales as a step towards achieving net zero, but he emphasised the need for concrete policy measures to ensure its feasibility. Groot proposed several actions to support these plans, including ending the fuel tax subsidy, reducing VAT for public charging, and committing to 5% Benefit-in-Kind rates until 2035 to boost confidence in EV affordability.

He also urged the government to embrace lower-cost EV options, including those from China, as research indicates that affordability is a significant barrier for 68% of Britons looking to switch to electric vehicles.