London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Sales of some new hybrid cars will be authorised until 2035, the government has stated, but it rejected that this was a change to a manifesto commitment to ban petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
Ministers scheme to reinstate a 2030 ban on new cars that run only on petrol and diesel that was dropped by Rishi Sunak a year ago, with a conclusion yet to come on which hybrid cars will be permitted. That final decision will be made after talking with carmakers and other interested parties.
How is the government addressing carmakers’ concerns?
A Department for Transport spokesperson stated: “This is untrue as we have always been committed to restoring the original 2030 phase-out date for the sale of new cars with pure internal combustion engines. The original phase-out date included the provision for some hybrid vehicle sales between 2030 and 35. We know it is important to provide certainty and stability for drivers and will set out further details in due course.”
What are the implications for carmakers with UK factories?
Carmakers have been lobbying furiously to boost petrol sales as growth in demand for electric cars has stalled after a surge in recent years. That has pushed them to drop prices, hitting profits. In August, 22.6% of UK car sales were electric, the most elevated for a month since December 2022, and some analysts predict electric sales to increase as carmakers race to strike separate rules understood as the zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
In its manifesto, Labour committed to giving “certainty to manufacturers by converting the phase-out date of 2030 for latest cars with internal combustion engines”.
Labour’s manifesto offered no further details of whether hybrids were included, but all hybrid cars have internal combustion engines, which are connected to a smaller battery. They range from mild hybrids – which mostly use a battery to make a car move off more efficiently – to regular hybrids that can utilise an electric motor to move quick distances and plug-in hybrids whose battery can be restored by cable.
When cars utilise a battery more, their carbon emissions cultivate to be lower. However, pure battery electric cars are more energy efficient than hybrids, and with moderate use are significantly better for the environment over their lifecycle.
In approach, the precise details of which hybrids are permitted will only impact a minority of drivers, as Labour had already shown it would retain the ZEV mandate, which means four-fifths of manufacturers’ cars must be pure electric by 2030. However, the capacity to continue selling hybrids would be useful to carmakers with British factories. Most notably, a prohibition on all hybrids in 2030 is strongly disliked by Japanese manufacturer Toyota, which will have to determine on whether to upgrade its Derbyshire car factory to electric in about 2027.