The British Government is due to announce a new date it proposes to introduce a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars within the next week, and a new report backed by Greenpeace wants to bring it forward 10 years to 2030.
The current ban is due to come into force in 2040 as various bodies attempt to lobby the Prime Minister to agree to make it even earlier.
A report by Cambridge Econometrics has urged the Government to accelerate the ban to 2030 with claims that it will create more than 30,000 new jobs and provide a £4.2 billion boost to the economy.
Greenpeace has backed the report and called for the deadline to be brought forward to 2030, claiming it would increase employment and economic activity, providing the government with a £1.9 billion net increase in revenue in a decade’s time.
Activists drove remote-control electric toy cars under the security gates of Downing Street and down towards Number 10 in a demonstration urging the Prime Minister to back a 2030 ban on new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans.
Greenpeace claims that the report shows that by removing a decade off the current 2040 deadline, it would have enough of an impact to reduce emissions to enable the government to meet its current legally binding climate commitments, as well as boost the economy by £4.2 billion and generate 32,000 jobs.
‘Compared to a later 2035 date, moving the ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans forward to 2030 would create 32,000 more jobs across society,’ the report said.
It added that these jobs would be created ‘across a range of sectors directly linked to the rapid transition to electric vehicles’.
As for increased economic spending, it says people will have more disposable income due to the ‘lower overall costs of owning and running an electric vehicle’ – though it fails to acknowledge the fact that electric cars are currently substantially more expensive to purchase than equivalent models with petrol and diesel engines.
The Committee on Climate Change, the government’s independent advisory body, has already urged ministers to adopt an even earlier target of 2030.
This demand was backed by more than 100 Tory MPs earlier this month as part of a plan to ‘build back greener’ after the pandemic.
Banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the next decade would put the UK in line with countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden which have 2030 as their target.
Reports have suggested that ministers could even choose to adopt a two-tier approach, with a ban on pure petrol and diesel cars set for 2030 and the phasing out of hybrids by 2035.
[Image source: Shutterstock, November 2020]
Greenpeace claims that if you move the ban forward to 2030, it would result in 6.5 million more zero emissions vehicles on the road by 2040, than if was reduced to 2035.
A spokesman commented: ‘Greenpeace is calling for capital allowances for investment in conversion of assembly lines in order to make a rapid switch viable for manufacturers, and for the government to work with vehicle manufacturers, unions, devolved nations and local authorities to encourage investment in a UK-based Gigafactory’.
Greenpeace also backed plans for a zero emissions vehicle mandate that forces car makers to sell a rising amount of emission free vehicles each year or face penalties.
However, Greenpeace did not mention anything in relation to the impact of 6.5 million zero emission vehicles would have on the national grid and recent research shows this is a concern amongst drivers.
Drivers concerned by electric switch
AA members were surveyed in September 2020. The survey results said that the impact on the National Grid was one of the three biggest hurdles for drivers when considering a switch to electric cars, 63% said the grid could not cope with millions of cars yet and would need more power stations.
Other two biggest concerns were that electric cars remain too expensive (89%) and charging times for EVs takes too long (72%) which is linked to range anxiety, especially EVs with older battery tech, or entry level cheaper EVs on sale.
Graeme Cooper, electric vehicle project director at National Grid, insisted there was capacity to cope with an increased demand for power. ‘About a third of CO2 emissions in the UK come from transport so the government has to really turbo-charge the decarbonisation plans here to get the UK trajectory to meet the net-zero targets.
‘We are confident that a faster transition is possible and we are suitably robust to cope with the forecast uptake in electric vehicles.’
What do you think about bringing the ban forward from the current 2040 to 2030? Is that too soon, or do you agree with Greenpeace and think sooner the better? Let us know in the comments below.
And make hundreds or more likely thousands more workers redundant who rely on carbon powered vehicles!
In 2050 this change will make the youngest petrol or diesel cars 20 years old and the youngest hybrid 15 years. What are the chances that Greenpeace will be insisting that they are scrapped at that point or earlier? The discussion never appears to take into account the carbon dioxide produced during the manufacture of the vehicles. We should be trying to minimise the total carbon dioxide production in manufacture and use. Also in maintenance to include the carbon dioxide from manufacture of replacement batteries. In any case is there enough Lithium for all the batteries that will be required? Hydrogen does sound a better long term proposition.
I think Hydrogen is the end state Colin, EV is like the Betamax video stage.
Hydrogen will be good for some applications but unlikely to be any use for cars. Hydrogen vehicles are basically EVs with a smaller battery and much more additional technology. Plus the production and use cycle of Hydrogen is inefficient and currently uses fossil fuels as a source. Even when renewables are used as a source it won’t change the efficiency – better to use the electricity to charge the battery directly rather than going via Hydrogen and need twice as much renewable energy for the same end result.
By 2050 the oldest petrol and diesel vehicles will be 20 years old and hybrids 15 years old. Will Green peace expect these vehicles to be scrapped in 2050? That would be to totally ignore the CO2 involved in manufacturing vehicles. What we need to minimise is the average annual CO2 production over a vehicles lifetime. Also is there enough Lithium for all the batteries and what is the CO2 cost of all the replacement batteries needed? In the long run hydrogen or some other yet to be invented fuel will be needed.
I don t think green peace actually want you to have any sort of car , they will happily have you going back to the horse and cart and candles oh candles make carbon dioxide when they burn so sit in the dark then.
Quite honestly Greenpeace supporters haven’t got a clue or are so blinded that their dogma that they refuse to consider the wider aspects. Moving more goods by rail is far more carbon friendly than any form of road transport yet all they can do is bleat about the impact a much needed expansion to our rail network. HS2 will free up the older routes, WCML and ECML for more commuter and freight traffic. Sit on Milton Keynes station and watch the non stop stream of trains clogging the system, put a third of those on HS2 and the problem is solved.
Currently EV range is limited by battery size and cost. Solid state may prove to be the breakthrough technology here. Toyota articles I have read suggest that a solid state battery would be 90% cheaper than the current lithium technology employed.
A reduction in battery cost would help bring EV pricing into line with the equivalent IC based solutions currently available.
The government needs to recognise that hybrid technology is a great stepping stone to full EV. Pollution in urban areas is the major concern and a hybrid with a 40mile EV range would provide a great solution until the battery cost/weight issues are addressed.
Our charging infrastructure is currently dire and the amount of electricity at point of charge is chronically short of requirements. Again Hybrids would smooth the path .
At the moment its a political issue but definitive practical solutions are required NOT JUST WORDS!
And make unemployed many thousands who work within the fuel industry right down to the little local garages and all the garage attendants. Going to be more lost than gained. Very short sighted
Electric cars are too expensive. We need small, cheap electric cars – a people’s car – same idea as the old VW Beetle. Cheap, reliable EVs that most people can afford will encourage people to make the change from IC engine cars. Obviously we should still have more luxurious EVs for those that can afford them.
Greenpeace once again showing the sheer stupidity of lefty policies, how are the commercial hauliers going to operate without diesel, unless they run on gas from the lefties unicorn droppings. The Great Reset of WEF is behind this and the oblivious to reality jump on board.
HARRY
In all comments about this subject, no-one seems tocare about the fact that the majority of car owners have somewhere at their home to connect to a charging point and will have to spend fruitless time waiting at public charging points at garages or supermarkets if you can access the latter due non electric cars parking in chargingi bays.
At one of a national chain of supermarkets near my home, on most occaissions I go, not one car in any of the allocated bays is being charged!
In 2030 how will this be redressed since even with the small proportion of EVs at present their is insufficient charging point easily accessed by EV owners now.
I thought the ban was 2035 already, not 2040.
My thoughts go to people like myself who don’t have a driveway or garage to park there car to charge it, some have a job to park it in their own street. Even those that buy new houses with garages can’t put their cars in them as they are still using car dimensions of years ago, I can’t get my car in them if I had one.
You will have to run your extension lead from your living room socket with its 13 amp fuse across the pavement and try and charge your 85 kilowatt battery car with it .you will probably be two days late for work.
This is superb news. We need to get out of the negative mindset. To date most people have experienced ICE vehicles and by and large try to find negative reasons to change from ICE to EV. It will happen, you just need to embrace the change. I guess the upside is that more people will move quicker to EV. I guess the downside for some is that as less people need petrol/diesel, the cost of this fuel type will rise £2, £3, £4 per litre.