UK: Government sticks to 2030 ICE phase-out plan
Just last year, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Tories) pushed back a planned combustion engine phase-out date from 2030 to 2035, citing the high cost for families and small businesses. The Labour Party, which won the election in July, had already announced during the campaign that it would restore the initial deadline of 2030.
After a meeting between government officials and the automotive industry, the former again emphasised that it remains committed to the phase-out date, adding that it will lead “the ZEV transition in a way that also supports UK economic growth.” Again, official plans were promised for a later date.
But the phase-out date is not the industry’s biggest concern. Carmakers are worried that the ZEV mandate could hurt them. It stipulates that at least 22 per cent of cars sold must be locally emission-free. For vans, there is a target of ten per cent. The quota will increase each year until the set phase-out date, after which no new cars with internal combustion can be sold in the UK.
Manufacturers who do not meet the target must either pay a fine or buy “ZEV allowances” from carmakers that exceed their target. It will cost carmakers 15,000 pounds per ZEV allowance for cars. For vans, the fine was reduced to 9,000 pounds in 2024, but will rise to 18,000 pounds for the remaining years that the regulation is in place.
“The UK automotive sector now has the fastest growth of zero-emission vehicles of any major European market, and we’re providing more than £2.3 billion to support industry and consumers in making the switch, with 57 new public electric vehicle chargers added on average each day,” a government spokesperson told British media.
Carmakers and lobbyists have repeatedly called for Downing Street to re-implement consumer incentives to help with EV uptake in the country. BEV registrations actually rose by 24.5 per cent YoY in October, and battery-electric vehicles accounted for more than 20 per cent of the market share last month. However, this is just a snapshot. Another angle: Ford just announced that it would cut 4,000 jobs to stay competitive – most of them in Germany, but jobs in the UK are also at risk.
“We now need to see urgent action from the Government by the end of the year to avoid a potentially irreversible impact on the UK automotive sector,” Guillaume Cartier, chairperson for the Nissan Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO) region, told Fleet News. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT said: “The industry also made clear its concerns about the pace of the EV transition and the negative effect this is having on the health of the overall market and the attractiveness of the UK as a manufacturing location […] We will now work urgently with Government to identify any adjustments necessary to help the industry and government meet their targets, instilling confidence in the consumer and other stakeholders, all of whom are part of this transition.”
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