U.K. to U-turn on 2030 ICE ban
The British Government is abandoning its ambitious plans to abolish the sale of all new gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2030.
Instead Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to allow new vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines (ICE, for short) to continue to be sold until 2035, despite his predecessor’s world-leading promise to end combustion car sales five years earlier.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman told Sky News, “We’re not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people. And we’re only going to achieve that net zero target whereby people and the British people can go about their daily lives using their cars, using the facilities that are available.”
The move, which could yet be reversed, is facing a wide range of opposition, not just from environmental groups but from the motor industry itself.
“The view of the industry is we’re on track for ending fossil fuel vehicles. It’s not for turning back & the U.K. should be leading it both as a market & as a manufacturer,” commented Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Lisa Brankin, Chair of Ford U.K., added, “This is the biggest industry transformation in over a century and the U.K. 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future. Our business needs three things from the U.K. government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three.”
Even Sunak’s fellow Conservative Members of Parliament are against the U-turn, with one claiming it is “anti-business” considering how much the U.K. car industry has invested in electric vehicles. It’s quite possible that Sunak could face a vote of no confidence from M.P.s triggering yet another turnaround. Watch this space.
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Note I am not anti EV. I find they have a place and they will continue to improve over time in range and cost.
My problem is this the rush to put them on the market before they are ready. This will lead to a number of problems. One the cost will still be high. The issues will still be resolved and many people will not like what they have.
Now continue to let the market develop and the product improve many people will turn to these models of their own free will.
This deal of rushing it for no reason is crazy. The planet is not going to burn up and oil is not going to run out soon. We have the time to do this right but the zealots of change are pushing this while they can.
This is a case where we need to let it develop at the pace of technology and let the public embrace it because it is better not forced.
Cars are too expensive now and this is only going to make it worse.
Also the infrastructure is still in need and I think 10 years or 5 years in come cases is not enough time for it to be where it needs to be.
If this strike gets what they want the price of EV cars will be jumping even more.
The real fear I have is how long till they come after the collector cars. We all here need to be prepared as that day is coming. They will not just ban them but they will look to things like limits in use or even charging more tax on older cars so you can not afford them. These tactic are already in use in some countries.
Couldn’t have said it any better!
If the “motor industry itself” is opposed to moving the date from ICE abolishment back from 2030 to 2035, there is absolutely nothing forcing them to do so. That is, if the motor industry wants to sell only electric cars starting January 1, 2030, they are perfectly free to do so. Something tells me, however, that the motor industry is only too happy to keep selling ICE cars, they just need a mouthpiece to _say_ that they’re really, really sad to hear about this and gosh darn it, they’d really rather keep the date at 2030.
I absolutely agree. The Ford UK exec’s statement is particularly ostentatious considering the state of things for Ford in the US.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/1193083777/ford-electric-vehicles-f150-lightning-jim-farley
Corporate virtue signaling, perhaps.
The reason they want the government mandate is they know the market and they know not enough customers will actually voluntarily buy an EV by 2030 to make their investments pay off.
Should the 2035 date be rescinded and 2030 is restored will interesting to see how the market responds if the new EV is more expensive than what people are prepared to pay. Secondly, will the recharging infrastructure be in place to meet demand. One advantage the UK has is that household voltage is 220V versus North American standard of 120V so install of fast chargers in UK homes may not be as big an investment
Push to EV is a control issue not an environmental issue
You got that right!
Wow he is going to “allow” people to buy the cars they actually want. That’s real big of him. And the car manufacturers selling out on this is sad. The road to oblivion.
The car manufacturers want the excuse of they were mandated to do this because they all will have to do it at the same time. What if one goes all EV by 2030 but another keeps selling combustion cars and the combustion cars greatly outsell the EV’s? (which likely would happen if they are cheaper!) Their sales will be down and their competitor will be up. But if they all have to suffer at the same time they don’t have to put in the same effort or worry about that situation.
Your comment is awaiting moderation. – again
Governments in general have long jumped into the pool with both feet, thinking that we can learn to swim later. We are still driving around in some areas to find a place where our cell phone can communicate. My mother gave up her home phone in her basement apartment, only to find that the cell phone will only work if she goes outside in the driveway. The EV craze will go away when they find out that the only way to generate the electricity is for everyone to have a giant black superstructure on their roofs, or if we let them build a nuclear plant in every town. We let them set our speed limit to 55 when they were told it would save energy, only to find out 10 years later that it only saved possibly 0.1% (one tenth of a percent) if by any chance we all obeyed their foolish law, which nobody did. Then they told us that it saved lives, but then we found out that the death rate went down in places like Alaska which never let you drive even 55. And Hawaii had NO interstates. They completely discounted the fact that people were driving less because of a bad economy, and they were charged thousands of dollars for mandatory safety equipment on all our cars.
Why don’t we postpone the EV craze until we have the electricity to charge them, and maybe wait until EV’s don’t cost $60.000.00 and the government doesn’t have to give them rebate checks to get people to buy them.
I, for one, am personally reassured that such a vaunted expert as hyperv6 is sure that the world will not burn up. After all, what do ALL of the world’s legitimate climate scientists know?
Just another spineless politician not willing to take responsibility for asking people to make decisions for the greater good.
My conclusion varies from yours: I would say that – MAYBE – he is a politician with an iota of sense, who knows that real progress does not generally happen overnight, and usually not by government fiat.
ALL the world’s climate scientists don’t actually all agree on A) whether humans contribute enough to climate change B) the extent of any climate change, and C) whether we’re all going to burn up and die. There are many that don’t agree with the common narrative.
There is a ton of confirmation bias in published papers. Which was demonstrated by the climate scientist that recently submitted a fake paper to the journal Nature that had fake data, but agreed with the biased opinions of the editors and peer reviewers. The article got published no problem, with no independent review of the data the scientist said he relied on in the article.
Proves that there are still some smart leaders out there
All I can say is fortunately the US and England didn’t have “concensus” politicians like this during WWII, or we’d all be speaking German. And if after this summer you still don’t think we are facing a similar existential crisis, du bist ein dummkopf.
This summer was no more unusual than many other summers I have experienced in my nearly 50 years where I live. We didn’t hit any records. Didn’t go over the record number of consecutive or total 100 degree days (records set decades ago).
Excellent news!! They’re seeing the light finally.
The real reason manufacturers don’t want the ICE ban delayed is that they’ve already invested a fortune in developing EVs to meet the current government deadline and they now realize that most people won’t buy those EVs unless they have no other choice. Thus, keeping the current deadline for ending ICE production is essential to their survival. Sad.
USAF, mid 60’s, France. A new Captain was added to our aircraft refueling group. Our first discussion was about his birthday in a few days. His surprise gift was a new MG soft top, White w/red. He needed to learn about standard trans. I taught him. He was so impressed he offered the car to me anytime I asked – and would I care for it? I did.
4 months later I borrowed the car to visit Denmark with a friend. It was all big fast roads, foot to the floor.
On the way back, still trying not to be run over, there was a bang and the engine quit. I coasted to the roadside. We each hung out the open doors. ????. Nothing dripping or hanging – what could be wrong? We opened both sides looking for serious damage. A piston – connecting rod? No. The cable drive had vibrated out of the generator, whipped about and smashed the distributer cap.
Do they still have those huge cast iron telephone boxes? I could enunciate the 4 numbers. In 10 minutes a motorcycle, with side car was with us. The rider collected every bit and splinter. Cupping the broken cap in one hand He assembled the cap, plugged in the wires and twirled his finger. Your kidding – He was not! Confirmed by looking through 2 jagged wholes. The man with the magic was gone. I chose 1st and eased the clutch out.
Within 2 miles we were again at max. Really? Alex was looking at the map. He found a dealer! In about an hour we were there.
The station owner came to fuel the car- A ‘factory’ guy oiled, greased, polished, everything he could see.
The daughter of the station owner spoke better English than I and insisted we have dinner with them.
Do you think the Captain will approve? I never asked.
To paraphrase the Ford VP: “What we need is money, money, money. If the whole industry isn’t forced to completely change so that customers have absolutely no other option, we will lose all our money because the customers will choose the technology that currently works and is setup to work seamlessly in their lives already while being substantially cheaper.”