The ICE Ban Cometh – Can We Have A Plan Please?

By David Bailey, Professor - Aston Business School
 
Professor David Bailey works at the Birmingham Business School and is a Senior Fellow at the UK in a Changing Europe.
The government has just announced that it is bringing forward its ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 to 2030. The 2030 ban covers Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars or ‘pure’ petrol and diesel cars.
Hybrids that can go a ‘substantial’ distance on battery power alone will get a later phase out date of 2035, but whether this covers Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) or hybrids in general isn’t really at this point.
It’s worth noting that the government changed its mind several times on the original 2040 ban, first announced in 2017. The latter target originally didn’t include PHEVs, then it did. After much confusion, PHEVs able to go over 50 miles on battery charge alone were excluded. So while the government will allow hybrids to be sold until 2035, we don’t really know what this will cover.
On the ta...