Now ban all diesel and petrol cars by 2032, say MPs
MPs have called for a controversial ban on all new petrol and diesel cars to be brought forward by eight years to 2032.
In a hard-hitting report, a crossparty committee has poured scorn on the Government’s watered down target for all new cars and vans to generate ‘effectively zero’ emissions by 2040.
It describes the commitment as confusing and demands an outright ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars – including hybrids, which can travel for shorter distances on electric battery power alone but also have a petrol or diesel engine that kicks in for longer journeys.
Ministers have already climbed down from more radical plans to outlaw the sale of all new conventional cars and vans by 2040 by allowing the lowest emission hybrids following a backlash from the car industry and motoring groups.
But its revised target is today dismissed by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee as ‘vague and unambitious’.
Arguing that ‘zero should mean zero’ the committee said the ‘lack of clarity on what an ‘effectively zero emissions’ car means makes it difficult for manufacturers to know what type of vehicles they will be able to sell in the near future.
Following a year-long inquiry the committee concluded that the sale of all new diesel and petrol cars and vans that produce exhaust fumes, which includes even the greenest ‘plug-in’ hybrids, should be banned by 2032.
The committee also criticised a ‘perverse’ decision last week to cut grants for electric cars and scrap them for hybrids, arguing this would discourage drivers from switching to greener alternatives.
Chairman Rachel Reeves said: ‘Electric vehicles are increasingly popular, and present exciting opportunities for the UK to develop an internationally competitive EV industry and reduce our carbon emissions.
‘But, for all the rhetoric of the UK becoming a world leader in EVs, the reality is that the Government’s deeds do not match the ambitions of their words.’
The demands infuriated car manufacturers. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: ‘The 2040 ambition was already extremely challenging, so to fasttrack that by eight years would be nigh-on impossible.
‘We need world-class infrastructure and world-class incentives to have any chance of delivering so the recent cuts to the Plug-in Car Grant and lack of charging facilities – both of which are severely criticised by the committee – show just how difficult it would be to accelerate this transition.’
Although sales of electric vehicles have risen sharply, just 13,597 zero emission battery power cars were sold last year – just half a per cent of the total number sold. The vast majority of alternatively fuelled cars are hybrids, which still rely on a petrol or diesel engine.
A Government spokesman said: ‘ Our Road to Zero Strategy outlined our ambition for the UK to be the best place in the world to build and own an electric vehicle. We also outlined measures to bring forward a major uplift in electric vehicle charging infrastructure.’