The government’s pathway towards all cars and vans being zero emissions by 2035 has been made into law, with 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain to be zero emissions by 2030.
This will then increase to 100% of all new vehicles sold in Britain by 2035.
Last year, prime minister Rishi Sunak delayed the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to 2035 to allow consumers more time to make the switch to electric cars.
The law – called the ‘net zero emission vehicle mandate’ – is backed by over £2 billion which has already been invested by government to expand the UK’s charging infrastructure and incentivise the manufacture and sale of zero emission vehicles.
Transport and decarbonisation minister Anthony Browne said the zero emission vehicle mandate will “boost the economy” and “support manufacturers to safeguard skilled British jobs”.
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“We are providing investment certainty for the charging sector to expand our charging network which has already grown by 44% since this time last year,” Browne added.
“This will support the constantly growing number of EVs in the UK, which currently account for over 16% of the new UK car market.”
bp pulse UK vice president Akira Kirton added: “This mandate instils confidence in our strategy, reaffirming our plans to invest £1 billion over 10 years to continue to develop hundreds of EV charging hubs across the country by 2030 to bolster the UK’s charging infrastructure.”
Uber UK general manager Andrew Brem commented: “The net zero emission vehicle mandate coming into force is a significant moment which will help to drive down the costs of EVs and increase supply – accelerating the uptake of EVs over the next decade.”
