Rishi Sunak moves green vehicle deadline back five years
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has dropped a Conservative party commitment to switch to plug-in cars only by 2030, shifting the deadline back by five years. The move was, he said, “to ease the transition to electric vehicles“, and was one of a number of measures softening previous green commitments.
In a speech delivered on 20 September 2023, he promised: “You’ll still be able to buy petrol and diesel cars and vans until 2035. Even after that, you’ll still be able to buy and sell them second-hand.”
At the same time, Sunak acknowledged the direction the market is already heading: “I expect that by 2030, the vast majority of cars sold will be electric. Why? Because the costs are reducing; the range is improving; the charging infrastructure is growing. People are already choosing electric vehicles to such an extent that we’re registering a new one every 60 seconds. But I also think that at least for now, it should be you the consumer that makes that choice, not government forcing you to do it.”
After initially expressing frustration at the apparent policy change, manufacturers soon declared the shift would make no difference to their investment strategies – effectively noting that consumer choice, and market movement, is more important than the policy of an individual country government. Car markets across the globe are transitioning to electric vehicles, all at differing rates, while other incentives in the UK – such as reduced company car tax – are helping to drive demand for cleaner vehicles.
Adrian Keen, CEO at EV charger company InstaVolt, declared: “For us, it’s business as usual.” The company has 1,250 chargers and expects consumers to keep buying EVs – so its plans for 10,000 chargers by 2030 remain unchanged.
Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin, and a leading light in the development of the Nissan Leaf, the first mass market EV, said the delay is the latest sign the UK government lacks a long-term plan. As chairman of Slovak EV battery startup Inobat, he is “focusing our attentions on Spain right now” and dropping the UK from considerations, because of Spain’s long-term industrial strategy.
“In Britain, there’s no industrial strategy, no intent for industrial strategy and no desire for an industrial strategy,” Palmer told Reuters.
And Renault couldn’t resist using the situation for a bit of fun, in an advertisement for their all-electric Megane.
