EU petrol car sales ban to be axed. What does it mean for the UK?

The EU looks set to scrap its planned ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars completely. Rumours that a delay from the proposed 2035 cutoff to 2040 had been circulating but we now have confirmation coming from the leader of the largest party in the European parliament that the ban will go completely. 

In its place, according to Manfred Weber of the European People’s Party who has spoken to German newspaper, Bild, will be more flexible emissions targets requiring manufacturers to deliver a 90 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars from 2035 onwards. This could give more options to car manufacturers, especially on low volume models that may not impact total fleet emissions too much. 

> evo Podcast: Listen to our discussion on the combustion-ban here

‘There will also be no 100 per cent target from 2040 onwards,’ Weber explained. ‘This means that the technology ban on combustion engines is off the table. All engines currently manufactured in Germany can therefore continue to be produced and sold.’

How did we get here? The tale of the ICE ban    

All the way back in 2020, the UK's then Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed his Government's commitment to the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars, announcing a 2030 target, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shortly delaying the ban until 2035. The current Labour government then reverted to the initial 2030 deadline. 

It’s clear that the UK can’t quite decide what’s best, but then it seems not many leaders can. A delay on the EU’s 2035 ban to 2040 was rumoured recently but now it seems that car manufacturers will get their wish - more freedom to produce the cars that are right for their businesses, within a less severe regulatory framework that will still lower emissions and move towards electrification.  

> 2030 petrol ban cancelled for low-volume car manufacturers like Ferrari

Pressure from European manufacturers could well have been the catalyst for this change. This news comes not long after Porsche announced a bold change to its powertrain development roadmap, extending support for combustion-powered models and delaying the launch of some pure electric vehicles. While Stuttgart has been one of the first, it’s expected to lead the way for similar moves from other manufacturers that may have to change tack to remain competitive, even if it costs them in the short term. 

Even as early as 2022 some OEMs were starting to push back at the holes in the UK and Europe’s policies, not arguing the case for reducing emissions, rather highlighting the fact that most cars on the road in 2030 will still use internal combustion engines. In 2022 Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management at BMW, urged Europe and the United Kingdom not to ‘put a policy in place that ends the combustion engine’. He went on to urge the UK government to review its strategy for the sale of combustion engines from 2030. 

What does it mean for the UK ICE ban? 

In the UK, the proposed 2030 combustion ban won’t make combustion-powered vehicles themselves illegal, but will outlaw the sale of them from new – as a result, all new cars sold would be required to be fully electric by 2035, should the revised policy come into effect. Britain’s current stance grants lenience to plug-in hybrid models, which won’t be banned until five years after the present 2030 ban of pure ICE models.

The UK’s original combustion-ban announcement in 2020 coincided with a £4bn investment in the UK’s charging infrastructure and battery production to support an increase in electric vehicle sales, along with more than £500million made available to incentivise people to switch to electric and hydrogen powered vehicles. Five years on, the current Labour government announced a pay-per-mile tax for EVs due in 2028, a move that would make them considerably more expensive to run and potentially reduce EV sales in the process, albeit after reintroducing purchase grant incentives. Whether the UK will stick to its guns and enforce the ICE ban now the EU has relented, remains to be seen.