Plans to Ban New Petrol and Diesel Vehicles by 2040 in the UK
26th July 2017
The Government are set to unveil a new air quality strategy proposing that all cars on UK roads will eventually be electric or hybrid.
Plans are expected to be announced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove which echo France’s plan revealed earlier this month, in an effort to improve air quality across the UK amid fears that the rising levels of pollution could pose a major public health risk.
The plans include banning the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 in an attempt to encourage UK car buyers into choosing electric or hybrid vehicles, along with allowing councils to introduce pollution taxes for diesel vehicle drivers entering city centres.
The strategy, with a £255m fund, also urges local authorities to alter the most pollutant diesel vehicles, such as buses to make them cleaner, remove speed humps, re-programme traffic lights for smoother traffic flow and change layouts of roads.
The news comes as some major car manufacturers are also making plans to incorporate electric and hybrid models, with Audi planning a 300-mile range electric SUV for 2018, and BMW have announced plans for electric and hybrid versions of every model series in their range, with a fully electric Mini model set to go into production in 2019. Volvo have also revealed it will stop production of diesel and petrol cars altogether as soon as 2019.
Diesel Scrappage Schemes
The Guardian reported that Gove said that the government would work with councils to develop “value for money and appropriately targeted” diesel scrappage schemes. But he said he thought generalised car scrappage schemes were poor value for money, because they involved subsidising people who were planning to get rid of their cars anyway.
Car dealers hoping for a scrappage scheme announcement after it has been hinted at for several months will have to wait a while longer for news – as it is now expected that the Government will hold a consultation on possible diesel scrappage schemes in the autumn.
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