Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces some tricky decisions after his promise to reinstate a 2030 deadline for banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars.
A Government spokesperson has revealed that details of the policy will be set out “in due course” which has sparked concerns about how the once again revised deadlines will affect the car industry.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had previously announced plans to delay the 2030 deadline, moving it to 2035, alongside the then Government’s other net zero pledges.
He said it would give drivers the chance to switch to electric vehicles on their terms and bring the UK in line with other countries’ decarbonisation.
But now the automotive industry now anxiously awaits to hear the what the new Labour plans will include.
A Government spokesperson told GB News the announcement would be made soon.
They said: “We’re committed to delivering greener transport by supporting the transition to electric vehicles.
“We will provide certainty to manufacturers by restoring the 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel cars, and are committed to accelerating the rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. We will set out further details due course.”
Under current guidelines manufacturers need to make sure they have a minimum proportion of their total sales come from zero emission vehicles, starting with 22 percent by the end of the year.
These targets adjust every year – moving to 80 percent of new cars and 70 percent of new vans sold in Great Britain needing to be zero emission by 2030, followed by 100 per cent in 2035.
Keir Starmer now must decide if the manufacturing targets change. Allowing manufacturers to export petrol and diesel cars is one potential solution.
Meanwhile, motoring experts have called for Labour to change its approach. Specialists at the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has called for the new 2030 date to only impact passenger cars.
AFP board member, Lorna McAtear warned manufacturers needed to “take a look” at the number of EV sales in recent years.
She also stressed there were “too many hurdles” to get businesses ready within the next half a decade.
Lorna said: “Fleets and the manufacturers that supply them need to take a real-world look at the rate of EV adoption in light of the experience of fleets over the last few years.
“Labour have said they will restore the 2030 target on EV manufacturing. It is now clear that this is possible for cars but just not practicable for vans.”