You might not have heard, but the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel powered cars has been pushed back from 2030 to 2035 by the UK government.
We'll be telling you what it is, why it's been delayed, and what it means for you.
Why Is the Ban Necessary?
Because carbon dioxide is one of the biggest causes of climate change.
And, surprise surprise . . . cars which are powered by petrol or diesel fuel are one of the biggest 'drivers' of carbon dioxide.
Therefore, it makes a whole lot of sense to ban them. At least the new ones.
Since 2019, the UK has had a legal obligation to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and the proposed ban was part of a new package of measures designed to tackle emissions.
However, the original plan was for the ban to come into effect in 2030 and not 2035.
Why Has It Been Postponed?
Because the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, thinks that Boris Johnson's 2030 aim is unrealistic and puts unnecessary pressure on working families.
Sunak told a press conference that it's not right for the UK government to impose those kinds of decisions without a properly informed debate.
He said: “We seem to have defaulted to an approach which will impose unacceptable costs on hard-pressed British families that no one was ever really told about, and which may not actually be necessary to deliver the emissions reduction that we need.”
In fairness, many recent polls do suggest that a lot of consumers are in favour of the Prime Minister delaying the ban, but certain manufacturers in the car industry are less happy, as they were already preparing and investing heavily to meet the 2030 target.
Will I Be Forced to Scrap My Car in 2035?
No.
By definition, the petrol or diesel car that you're already driving will be a used car, so you won't have to scrap it and instead can continue on driving happily (assuming it survives that long!).
To repeat: petrol and diesel cars already on the road by 2035 will still be legal to drive.
What's more . . . as the average life of a car is roughly 14 years, this means that new petrol and diesel cars bought in 2034 could stay on the roads till as late as the year 2048.
What happens beyond that is more difficult to predict. The government’s target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 means exactly that: zero CO2 emissions being produced across every sector. So it's difficult to see combustion-powered cars being used at all at that point in time.
Is It Possible to Convert My Petrol or Diesel Car to Pure-Electric?
Yes, but you'll end up paying a pretty penny for it.
That's because doing this tends to be very expensive.
Prices can start at approximately £15,000, rising to £30,000 or beyond depending on the car.
But if you do go ahead with it, an engineer will remove the engine, fuel tank and transmission and replace them with an electric battery, motor and other related components. The full lot, really.
Are Electric Cars Expensive?
Upfront, electric vehicles are more expensive to buy and lease on a monthly finance basis than their petrol and diesel counterparts.
That's because they're more expensive to produce and the demand for them is increasing.
However, as sales increase and they become more common, supply and demand dictates that the prices will drop. They're expected to cost the same as petrol and diesel cars by the early 2030s.
But that aside, electric cars are a lot less expensive to run than their petrol and diesel counterparts, especially if you have access to a home charger.
How Will It Affect Leasing?
Quite a bit.
When you lease a car, you lease a new car.
Therefore, the only new cars that you'll be able to lease by 2035 will be electric cars.
That being said, used lease cars are slowly making their way onto the market, so there's still a (slim?) hope that you'll be able to lease a used petrol or diesel car in 2035!
Will Petrol Cars Be Worthless After the Ban?
Definitely at first, but their value may then improve.
In the years immediately following the ban, the value of used petrol cars will likely take a hit due to a surplus of supply and increased costs.
Thing is . . . as soon as all of those used cars reduce in number or become too costly to maintain and repair, the value of the remaining ones will likely increase again.
Does the Ban Affect Vans?
Yep, sure does.
Petrol and diesel vans are no exception to the upcoming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. (Luckily, there's plenty of top-notch electric vans available to lease.)
As with cars, you won’t be able to buy a new van which is powered solely by petrol or diesel beyond that year.
Trucks and any other commercial vehicles will also be affected by the ban.
What Will Replace Petrol and Diesel Cars?
EVs of course!
Yep, the plan is for new petrol and diesel cars to be replaced by new 'zero emissions' vehicles which don't run on an internal combustion engine and won't contribute a negative impact towards climate change.
With that in mind, many car manufacturers are already taking their focus away from developing petrol and diesel cars, and instead turning their attention to developing and honing their electric fleets.
Several car manufacturers have even have announced that their entire range will be all-electric by the year 2030 (as they would had the original 2030 deadline in mind).
In due time, it's quite likely that other technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells will also be available to fuel cars, so electric vehicles aren't the be-all and end-all. And right enough, Hyundai and Toyota already have fuel-cell powered vehicles (FCVs) on the market.
What Are the Rules On Hybrid Cars?
At the time of writing, its unclear how Sunak's 2035 delay will affect hybrid models.
New hybrids were originally due to be banned 5 years after the original target for new petrol and diesel models, which until recently was 2030, so now the two coincide.
If you're unfamiliar with hybrids, they basically combine an electric motor with either a petrol or a diesel engine, so they're a halfway house between pure electrics and standard engine-fuelled cars.
Plug-in hybrid cars contain a medium-sized battery and can be recharged for up to around 50 miles of electric driving before power switches to the internal combustion engine.
What Will Happen to Classic Cars After 2035?
Most likely nothing.
At this point in time, there's no suggestion that classic cars powered by traditional petrol or diesel engines (which is pretty much all of them!) will be forced off the roads.
At present, there's more than half a million "historic" or classic vehicles (ones which are 40 years old) on the roads of the UK.
That's not a large number in the grand scheme of things. Besides, a lot of collectors have them sitting in their garages rather than actually driving them, so classic cars are a niche interest that are unlikely to make a significant difference to climate change.
How Easy Will It Be By 2035 to Charge an EV?
That's the million dollar question, isn't it?
The challenge is to get the country's electric charging infrastructure up to a level which will support all the electric cars that are going to be zooming about.
The problem is that some parts of the UK have very few public chargers, and others arguably have too many. Also, some of the chargers differ in terms of speed and reliability.
Thankfully, a large amount of public and private money is being invested in building up the required charging infrastructure. Also, some oil companies have jumped on the bandwagon and are planning for the setup of networks of charging locations which provide same facilities.
The National Grid is adamant that it'll be able to meet the increased demand for electricity as well.
Can I Still Buy a Used Petrol or Diesel Car After 2030?
Absolutely you can.
As mentioned, the ban only applies to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. Used ones will still have the capacity to be sold, bought, and of course driven.
Summary
So yes, that's all you need to know about the ban.
Whether a good or a bad thing, it's still a few years away, so there's no need for you to worry just yet!
But yes, the future is very much electric.
FAQs
Are petrol and diesel cars going to be banned?
Only new (and not used) models. The original plan was for the ban to come into effect in 2030, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided to push it back to 2035.
Can you still drive petrol cars after 2040?
Yes, as the ban is only on the sale of new cars. You'll still be able to legally drive one that's currently on the road. And since the average life of a car is about 14 years, a new petrol and diesel car bought in late 2034 could even remain on the road until 2048.
Is the petrol and diesel car ban in the UK?
Sure is. The ban on the sale of petrol and diesel powered cars was originally planned for 2030, but it has been pushed back to 2035 as part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's approach to meeting the UK's net zero targets.